Dr. Andreas Fiedler spent the years from 2015 to 2019 as a Ph.D. Student at the Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung, graduating from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin in 2019. His next project took him to the Ohio State University, where he worked as a Post-Doctoral Scholar alongside Professor Dr. Siddharth Rajan from 2019 until 2022. Since 2022, Andreas has been working as a group leader at IKZ studying “Transport and electrical properties of semiconductor devices”. Dr. Fiedler’s publications and co-authorships can be found on our Publications page. You can read our interview with him from September 2023 below.
How did you first hear about / get involved with GraFOx?
I first heard about GraFOx during my doctoral research. I was hired by the IKZ to characterize the material gallium oxide and to do my PhD based on this research. I was supervised by Dr. Klaus Irmscher, who was one of the lead PIs of the cluster. This topic was one of the first in the GraFOx science campus, which made me one of the first PhD students within the campus.
Which cluster were you part of and what was the focus of your work?
I was part of Cluster 4 (GraFOx I), which is now Cluster P (GraFOx II). The Topic of the cluster is physical properties. My topic was C4.4 Identification of point defects and their influence on (photo-)electrical transport in group III sesquioxides.
How did the other GraFOx members support you?
The constant exchange with experts from different fields helped me to learn a lot and develop as a scientist. I was able to perform complementary characterization measurements in other institutes of the network. Additionally, as an expert in optical and electrical characterization, I had a chance to collaborate closely with everyone in the Science Campus who was growing material. This allowed me to contribute to several scientific works and gain a broad overview of the electrical properties of oxides.
What did you do after GraFOx?
After I finished my PhD within GraFOx in the end of 2019, I went to The Ohio State University to do my postdoctoral studies on the development and characterization of high-power devices based on gallium oxide in the group of Prof. Siddharth Rajan. I stayed at OSU for over 2 years before I returned to IKZ in march 2022 to start as the group leader for Transport and electrical properties.
Did your experience at GraFOx have any impact on the next stage in your career?
Thanks to the outstanding achievements in the field during my PhD in GraFOx, I was honored by The Ohio State University’s (OSU) 2019 Presidential Postdoctoral Scholars Program. Not only did this scholarship fund the first two years of my stay at OSU, but the program also provided me with valuable training in workshops to prepare for a tenure-track position. Doing my PhD studies in such a great environment like GraFOx set the foundation of my scientific career and paved the way for my future accomplishments.
