LU opens new semiconductor research lab

Lakehead University has reinvented the light bulb.

The university officially opened its semiconductor research laboratory Friday morning. The lab, a partnership with MEAGlow Ltd., an Ontario-based company hoping to commercialize migration enhanced afterglow technology, is home to a chemical film growth reactor.

That reactor, in the long-term, will help develop energy and cost efficient light sources like light emitting diodes (LEDs), solar cells, high speed transistor devices and semiconductor lasers with a wide spectral range.

“It is much more efficient in comparison with the existing technology in the world,” said Dimiter Alexandrov, MEAGlow partner and electrical engineering associate professor.

The technology requires high temperatures and large amounts of pure ammonia, hydrogen and other gases.

The MEAGlow process uses low temperatures and is non-toxic, bringing down the production cost and environmental impact.

Alexandrov said it is revolutionary technology and will change the lives of people across the world.

The most important application is for renewable energy sources, he added.

“The new solar cells will have efficiency five to six times more in comparison with the existing solar cells,” Alexandrov said.

“In the same area of solar panels, we are able to receive five to six times more from these types of devices.”

The lab received funding from both the provincial and federal governments. It presently employs eight people, seven of whom are engineers and physicists under the age of 30. MEAGlow plans to hire an additional 10 to 15 people over the next few years as the company expands.

The university is proud to be part of the joint venture, said Rui Wang, vice president of research, economic development and innovation. He added people frequently believe Thunder Bay is in no-man’s land and that Lakehead is isolated.

“Science can be developed anywhere,” he said. “The best technology can be developed anywhere as long as you have the talent. We have the talent.”