Jonathan Wierer

Biography
Wierer received his B.S. (1994), M.S. (1995), and Ph.D. (1999) from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, all in electrical engineering. His research interests are semiconductor physics, devices, and materials. From 1999-to 2008, he worked at Hewlett Packard, which later became Lumileds Lighting, researching novel III-nitride light-emitting diodes (LEDs). At Lumiled's Advanced Laboratories, his research highlights include developing the first high-power (1 Watt) flip-chip III-nitride LED, arguably the light source that began solid-state lighting. He also produced seminal work on III-nitride photonic crystal LEDs. In 2008 he joined Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, NM. His most notable work at Sandia is his ground-breaking proposal to use laser diodes as an ultra-efficient light source for solid-state lighting. From 2015- to 2021, he was an Associate Professor at Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Center for Photonics and Nanoelectronics. His group focused on long-wavelength, visible (green to red) InGaN LEDs and III-nitride power devices.
Dr. Wierer has authored or co-authored over 200 journal publications and conference presentations and holds 42 patents, predominately related to III-nitride devices. He is an associate editor for the IEEE Photonics Technology Letters journal. He is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the Optical Society of America and a member of the Illumination Engineering Society and Optica.
Education
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Ph.D.
1999
Electrical Engineering
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign -
Master's
1995
Electrical Engineering
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign -
Bachelor's
1994
Electrical Engineering
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Research Focus
- Physical Electronics, Photonics & Magnetics
- III - V Materials and Devices
- Optical Materials and Photonic Devices
- Power Semiconductor Devices
Funded Research
Involvement
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IEEE Photonics Technology Letters
Senior Editor
Recent News

Jon Wierer to Join ECE Faculty
Posted on May 21, 2021 | Filed Under: Faculty
ECE is proud to announce the addition of a new member of our faculty to bolster the stellar research and teaching going on in the department—welcome to the Pack!