Thomas Wunderer

Thomas is an expert in the field of wide/ultra-wide bandgap semiconductor optical emitters and laser technology. He is credited with numerous innovations in the development of optical emitter concepts and device demonstrators, with breakthrough laser prototypes in both vertical and edge-type emitter configurations. For example, he demonstrated the brightest semipolar InGaN LED in 2006, he developed the shortest wavelength (λ = 236.5nm) UV AlGaN-based optically pumped laser and the first in-well pumped InGaN VECSEL. More recently, Dr. Wunderer was PARC’s PI under DARPA’s LUSTER program that focused on the development of high-power electron-beam pumped UV light sources and lasers, and he is the technical lead for the development of Watt-level III-Nitride laser diodes at PARC. Prior to joining PARC, Thomas worked at Fraunhofer USA in Lansing, MI, where he studied the thermal conductivity of thin films. Thomas received a Ph.D. (Dr.-Ing.) in Electrical Engineering from Ulm University, Germany, where his research focused on semipolar InGaN/GaN LEDs and laser structures. He holds 20+ patents, has authored over 50 technical papers, 1 book chapter, and has made more than 50 international and national conference contributions.