Tom Pinnington Email & Phone Number

Menlo Park, Ca, Us

Menlo Park, Ca, Us

AR/VR Display development

Richmond, British Columbia, Ca

Recruited to drive and systematize R&D for core technology platform. During the transition to production, I established and ran the LED qualification process while leading materials-related development for new products.• Collaborated with CTO to grow R&D team to 10 members and prove out manufacturing and design concepts, including implementation of a pilot line for a novel white LED design. • Investigated competing processes for integrating phosphors with LED chips at vendor sites in the US, Europe and Asia, and conducted tool acceptance.• Facilitated negotiations among internal and external stakeholders to define LED specifications and supply strategy for an evolving product mix.• Managed optical qualification for the “TILE Exterior” outdoor lighting product (2017 DARC-award winner).

Boise, Idaho, Us

Engaged with the Micron NPI team to transfer a new substrate technology for epitaxial growth of gallium nitride LEDs on silicon, into an 8-inch silicon fab. • Guided DOE planning and analysis for multiple process optimizations (ion implantation, PECVD/LPCVD dielectrics deposition, CMP, wafer bonding).• Created and transmitted process and modeling documentation resulting in successful technology hand-off. • Prepared a technical assessment of engineered substrate product opportunities and presented to executive leadership

Us

Amberwave Systems acquired the engineered substrate product from Aonex Technologies, and I led the technology transfer and drove process innovation in the push to commercialization. Two years later, the technology was acquired by Micron Technology.• Managed acceptance of critical process tooling ($1M) on schedule, including vendor selection, tool design optimization, and testing at vendor sites in the US and Europe.• Guided team in scaling from 2-inch to 4- and 6-inch wafer diameters over an eight-month period. • Generated and validated physical models for performance of thermally mismatched substrates, enabling quantitative assessment of product opportunities and processing strategies.• Increased throughput by a factor of 10 while concurrently doubling yield through process optimization and redesign.

Prepared presentation materials and accompanied the President in marketing the company technology to prospective acquirers including a conference presentation (ICNS-7). During this transition period I took on ownership of the full manufacturing process (ceramic wafering, dielectrics deposition and CMP, donor substrate reclaim, ion implantation, wafer bonding and layer transfer) ensuring a reliable supply of prototypes and continued process refinements.

As a technical principal at a series-A start-up, I spearheaded new process development and created product ideas that leveraged the company expertise in wafer-bonded laminate substrates. • Built vendor relationships to establish an outsourced fabrication line for novel refractory metal and poly-crystalline ceramic substrates.• Authored core IP for engineered substrates for gallium nitride (GaN) growth.• Collaborated with Sandia National Labs to deliver first-ever GaN LED growth by metalorganic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) on a wafer-bonded substrate.

Alhambra, Ca, Us

As the lead for support of device R&D, I operated and maintained a dual growth-chamber multi-wafer MOCVD tool (Veeco D180) for a total of more than 3000 deposition runs. • Increased wafer throughput by a factor of 3 and improved run-to-run wavelength uniformity by a factor of 2, by exploiting in-situ optical monitoring to streamline process calibration.• Developed InAlGaAs multi-quantum-well grating over-growth process for 10GB uncooled DFB lasers. • Designed a strain-compensated tunnel junction enabling operation of first VCSEL at Ortel.

Within the manufacturing MOCVD team, I interfaced with R&D (Bell Labs) to bring new capabilities online for the InGaAsP/InP-based telecom laser products. I was also the process owner for tunable-DBR laser production.

Burnaby, Bc, Ca

MOCVD of arsenic-based semiconductors. Developed an alkyl concentration monitor for metalorganic precursors based on single-wavelength infra-red absorption.

Phd, Physics

B.A.Sc., Engineering Physics