Michael Kelly has worked on the theory of semiconductors since the 1970s, and has made important contributions in the field of superlattice devices during its rapid evolution in the 1980s. Two families of new-generation microwave devices went into production as a result, one of which is still in production in the United Kingdom.
Since the 1990s, his focus has been on manufacturing issues associated with semiconductor tunnelling devices and with nanoscale structures more generally. Most recently, with Mo Missous, he established a manufacturing protocol for low-cost, high-volume tunnel devices for millimetre-wave and terahertz systems, which they intend to commercialise.
From 2006 to 2009, he advised a UK government department on energy use in buildings and he has developed an expertise in national energy systems which includes, unusually, a study of the serious downsides of a rapid decarbonisation of the world economy.
Subject groups
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Engineering and Materials Science
Engineering, electronics
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Astronomy and Physics
Semi-conductors
Awards
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Hughes Medal
For his work in the fundamental physics of electron transport and the creation of practical electronic devices which can be deployed in advanced systems.
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Rutherford Memorial Lecture
Given in New Zealand.
