Dr. William B. Knowlton received his B.S in 1992, M.S. in 1995, and Ph.D. in 1998, in materials science and engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. For his master of science work, he fabricated one of the first prototype dark matter particle (weakly interacting massive particle candidate or WIMP) detectors operating at 20 mK using phonon transparent ultra pure Ge eutectically bonded to neutron transmutation doped Ge. His doctoral work included the study of point defects and modeling diffusion in silicon and the development, fabrication, characterization of x-ray detectors and far-infrared resonant detectors.
In 1997, he joined Hewlett Packard Labs where he studied dislocations and structural properties in heteroepitaxial grown thin film and bulk grown GaN materials systems to optimize light output in light emitting diodes (LEDs). He joined Insight Analytical Labs in 1998 where he consulted and performed electromigration and dielectric reliability studies.
In 2000, he joined the faculty in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Boise State University. With Dr. Amy Moll (Materials Science and Engineering), he has co-developed five new programs and a department in Materials Science and Engineering where he is the Coordinator for Graduate Studies and holds a joint appointment as an Associate Professor. He has established two laboratories and co-established another laboratory. He has published over 55 papers in peer reviewed journals or conferences and has submitted several invention disclosures with one patent pending. His research activities include device and simple circuit reliability physics, materials characterization, nanofabrication of materials and devices, biomaterials, magnetic materials and molecular electronic devices. Approximately 4 full-time and 4 part-time graduate students and 10 undergraduate students from electrical and computer engineering and materials science and engineering perform research in his laboratories. He collaborates with colleagues in engineering, biology, physics and chemistry and with industry including Micron, SEMATECH and Freescale (formerly Motorola).
Prof. Knowlton has been honored with several teaching and research awards including 2008 and 2004 Boise State University Top Ten Scholar/Alumni Association Honored Faculty Member Awards, 2007 College of Engineering Professor of the Year Award, 2004 IEEE Student Chapter Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor of the Year Award, and the 2004 Boise State University Presidential Research and Scholarship Award. He is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (Senior Member), Materials Research Society, American Society of Engineering Education and the American Physical Society. From 2002 – 2005 and 2008-2009, he has been a member of the organizing committee for the IEEE International Integrated Reliability Workshop and was a Guest Editor for IEEE Transactions on Device and Materials Reliability in 2006 and 2008.
