Abstract: Switching devices are key components in any power electronic circuit or system as they control and limit the flow of power from the source to the load. Their power level requirements (current & voltage) and switching frequency are continually increasing in the power electronic industry, and this demands larger and faster switching devices.
This paper will focus on the development of high power switching devices and will present an up to date perspective of switching device technology and materials. The most important material has been and still is silicon (Si) for solid-state semiconductor devices. It dominates the world market at present, particularly in its crystalline form. However, silicon power device operation is generally limited to relatively low frequency and temperature.
Silicon Carbide, Gallium Nitride and Diamond offer the potential to overcome the frequency, temperature and power management limitations of silicon. A large number of new concepts and materials are still in the research stage. At present, Silicon Carbide is considered to have the best trade-off between material properties and commercial maturity. Multilayer Silicon Carbide (SiC) power semiconductor devices being in development are promising devices for the near future, but long term reliability, crystal degradation and forward voltage drift problems need to be solved before commercialisation.

Brief Biography of the Speaker:
Noel Shammas is currently a Professor of Microelectronics and Solid-State Power Semiconductor Devices in the faculty of Computing, Engineering and Advanced Technology, Staffordshire University. He received the M.Sc and Ph.D degrees from Salford University in 1972 and 1975 respectively. Since then he lectured and researched at different universities and industry. Research work is primarily focused on Power Semiconductor Devices which includes mainly Power diodes, Light Emitting Diodes (LED's), Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors and Thyristors. Other related areas of research work includes Power Module Packaging technologies ( Both Conventional Press- pack and Smart pack designs) and Series/Parallel operation of high power semiconductor devices and their interaction with external circuits.
Professor Shammas has extensive experience in both experimental and theoretical research work and is recognised internationally for his significant contribution to research in the field of Power Semiconductor Devices. He has published over 120 journal and conference research papers as well as several invited Keynote and Plenary Lectures, and has held several research grants from funding councils, Advantage West Midland (AWM), as well as from industry. He is a regular reviewer for many journals (including IEE Proceeding Electronic devices and systems, IEEE Transactions on power electronics, and Microelectronic Reliability) and international conferences (including the European Power Electronic conference - EPE, Microelectronic conference - MIEL, Universities Power Engineering Conference-UPEC, International Symposium Power Semiconductors-ISPS, etc...). He is a member of scientific committee for many international conferences (including MIEL, EPE, WCE, WSEAS, and Microtherm) and a steering committee member for EPE, UPEC, and ISPS international conferences. He is also a book reviewer for Prentice Hall International and McGraw Hill.