Len Trombetta earned a BS in Physics from Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1976, and a PhD in Physics from Lehigh University in 1984. His PhD dissertation was the result of research done at the Army Research Laboratory, Fort Monmouth, NJ, where he worked from 1981 until 1986. He joined the UH faculty in 1986 and is currently an Associate Professor. Prof. Trombetta enjoys teaching, both at UH and at Texas Instruments in Dallas, where he has taught courses in solid state device physics. He served as Graduate Admissions Director for the ECE department (1996 - 1999), and is Course Coordinator for the undergraduate electronics sequence.

Dr. Trombetta is a jazz enthusiast and plays tenor saxophone professionally, albeit infrequently.

-• Research and Academics

Research Focus: Solid state device physics; Characterization of MOS devices and materials. Prof. Trombetta's research has been primarily in the characterization of metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) systems, particularly mechanisms of defect generation at the insulator-semiconductor interface. His work has included the ubiquitous SiO2/Si system as well as SiO2/SiC and "high-K" inuslators on Si for appliction in advanced CMOS devices. He has also done work in characterization of III-V semiconductors, including GaAs and AlGaAs, and most recently GaN. He has directed numerous MS theses and PhD dissertations in these areas. He currently collaborates with the Texas Center for Superconductors and Advanced Materials (TcSAM) at UH, as well as with the Prairie View A&M Center for Applied Radiation Research on the radiation response of MOS devices.

 
-• Selected Publications and Presentations

"The effects of nitrogen plasma on RIE-induced damage in GaN", (Z. Mouffak, A. Bensaoula, and L. Trombetta), J. Appl. Phys., 95 (2), pp. 727-730 (2004)

"Effect of Photo-Assisted RIE Damage on GaN", (Z. Mouffak, N. Medelci-Djezzar, C. Boney, A. Bensaoula, and L. Trombetta), MRS Internet J. Nitride Semicond. Res. 8, 6 (2003)

"Using point-defect engineering to increase stability of highly doped ultrashallow junctions formed by molecular-beam-epitaxy growth", Lin Shao, Phillip E. Thompson, Joe Bennett, Bhanu P. Dharmaragari, Len Trombetta, Xuemei Wang, Hui Chen, Hye-Won Seo, Quark Y. Chen, Jianui Liu, and Wei-Kan Chu, Appl. Phys. Lett. 83 (14), pp. 2823-2825 (2003)

"Defects Produced by Medium Energy Proton Bombardment of MOS Devices", P. M. Lenahan, T. D. Mishima, J. B. Jumper, T. N. Fogarty, M. Marrero, L. Cruz, S. Shojah-Ardalan, R. Dwivedi, R. Wilkins, L. P. Trombetta and C. Singh, 6th European Conference on Radiation Effects on Circuits and Systems (RADECS), Sept. 10 - 14, 2001, Grenoble, France

"Analysis of Charge Components Induced by Fowler-Nordheim Tunnel Injection in Silicon Oxides Prepared by Rapid Thermal Oxidation," (Y. Roh, L. Trombetta, and J. Han), J. Electrochem. Soc. 142 (3), 1015 (1995)

"Interface Traps Induced by Hole Trapping in Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Devices",
(Y. Roh, L. Trombetta, and D. J. DiMaria), J. Non-Crystalline Solids, 187, 165 (1995)

"The Influence of Sb Doping on the Growth and Electronic Properties of GaAs (100) and AlGaAs (100)," (K. D. Jamison, H. C. Chen, A. Bensaoula, W. Lim, L. Trombetta, and A. Ignatiev), J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A7 (3), 606 (1989).