The Pallab Bhattacharya papers are organized alphabetically and document Bhattacharya's work at the University of Michigan, as well as his research and participation in the wider engineering profession. Materials in this collection are comprised of awards, correspondence, course syllabi, assignments and examination materials, conference planning materials, patents, research proposals, and presentation materials.
The correspondence folder contains emails, letters, and memos on a variety of topics, including promotions, committee activities, lectures, research, and collaborations with colleagues.
Pallab Bhattacharya was born in India in 1949. A graduate of the University of Calcutta, Bhattacharya relocated to the United Kingdom to attend the University of Sheffield in South Yorkshire. He received his Master's degree in Engineering in 1976, and his PhD, which focused on semiconductors, in 1978. That same year, Bhattacharya accepted a faculty position at Oregon State University (OSU). He taught at OSU until 1983, with the exception of a year-long position as Invited Professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) from 1981-1982. In 1983, Bhattacharya joined the faculty of the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) department at the University of Michigan (U-M). As of 2019, Bhattacharya is the Charles M. Vest Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and the James R. Mellor Professor of Engineering in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at U-M.
A leader in the development of quantum dot lasers, Bhattacharya is known for pioneering advances in synthetically modulated semiconductor structures and nanophotonic devices, as well as his breakthrough discovery of quantum dot formation (alongside colleague Jasprit Singh) that led to the commercialization of quantum dot devices. A pioneer of near-infrared and visible quantum dot (QD) laser technology, Bhattacharya was one of the first to demonstrate a room temperature QD, and has worked on integrating QD lasers on silicon substrates. Bhattacharya's teaching and research interests also include compound semiconductors, low-dimensional quantum confined systems, spintronics, optoelectronic integrated circuits, high-speed quantum dot lasers, nanowire heterostructures, cavity quantum electrodynamics, and polariton lasers.
Bhattacharya has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the John Bardeen Award, the Heinrich Welker Medal, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) David Sarnoff Award. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the Institute of Physics (UK), the Optical Society of America, and the IEEE. Bhattacharya has also produced more than 700 journal publications and delivered more than 100 plenary and keynote talks and named lectures. His 1994 textbook, Semiconductor Optoelectronic Devices is still considered a foundational text and is used worldwide.
