Jeff Y Tsao

Senior Scientist

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Senior Scientist

jytsao@sandia.gov

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Biography

Jeff Tsao is currently a Senior Scientist in the Material, Physical and Chemical Sciences Center 1800 at Sandia National Laboratories.

From 1981 to 1991, he was research staff, first at MIT-Lincoln Laboratory where he studied laser microchemistry, then at Sandia, where he studied semiconductor epitaxy.

From 1991 to 2001, he managed various semiconductor materials research departments at Sandia, then, while on entrepreneurial leave, was VP of R&D at E2O Communications, a pre-IPO fiber communications company. He also took a sabbatical during this period at the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering in Singapore, where he developed and gave a comprehensive series of twelve lectures on compound semiconductor epitaxy.

In 2001, he returned to Sandia, and, from 2001 through 2013, played a “community organizer” role: spearheading white papers, reports and programs which helped set larger national and global research directions, including in solid-state lighting. From 2019 to 2022, Jeff served as lead for Sandia’s programs with the Office of Basic Energy Science, Division of Materials Science and Engineering (BES-MSE).

In 2013, Jeff began to explore “metaresearch” – how to understand and nurture research itself as a complex adaptive (and learning) system. In 2013 he co-organized an Art & Science of Science & Technology workshop at Sandia, and in 2021 he co-authored the book “The Genesis of Technoscientific Revolutions: Rethinking the Nature and Nurture of Research” (link to book here, link to Research Policy overview article here, link to 40m YouTube overview here). He has also begun to delve into the connections between technoscientific discovery by human vs artificial intelligences (link to J of Creativity article here).

In his spare time, Jeff enjoys family activities and travel, and dabbles with piano (mostly jazz) and tennis (ranked 23rd in the 65+ USTA SW region).

11-page C.V.

Education

Jeff has a BS in math and MS in EE from Stanford; and a PhD in Applied Physics from Harvard where his advisors were Nico Bloembergen, Eli Yablonovitch and Itamar Burak.

Selected Articles/Books/Reports with ≥ 100 Google Scholar citations

  1. ULTRAWIDE-BANDGAP SEMICONDUCTORS: RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES, JY Tsao, S Chowdhury, MA Hollis, D Jena, NM Johnson, KA Jones, RJ Kaplar, S Rajan, CG Van de Walle, E Bellotti, CL Chua, R Collazo, ME Coltrin, JA Cooper, KR Evans, S Graham, TA Grotjohn, ER Heller, M Higashiwaki, MS Islam, PW Juodawlkis, MA Khan, AD Koehler, JH Leach, UK Mishra, RJ Nemanich, RCN Pilawa‐Podgurski, JB Shealy, Z Sitar, MJ Tadjer, AF Witulski, M Wraback, JA Simmons, Advanced Electronic Materials 4, 1600501 (2018).
  2. MATERIALS FUNDAMENTALS OF MOLECULAR BEAM EPITAXY, JY Tsao (Academic Press, 1994).
  3. RELAXATION OF STRAINED-LAYER SEMICONDUCTOR STRUCTURES VIA PLASTIC FLOW, B.W. Dodson, J.Y. Tsao, Applied Physics Letters 51, 1325-1327 (1987); and Applied Physics Letters 53, 1128 (1988).
  4. SOLID-STATE LIGHTING: LAMPS, CHIPS, AND MATERIALS FOR TOMORROW, J.Y. Tsao, IEEE Circuits & Devices 20, No. 3, pp. 28-37 (May/June, 2004).
  5. COMPARISON BETWEEN BLUE LASERS AND LIGHT-EMITTING DIODES FOR FUTURE SOLID-STATE LIGHTING, J.J. Wierer, J.Y. Tsao, D.S. Sizov, Laser & Photonics Reviews 7, 963-993 (2013).
  6. RESEARCH CHALLENGES TO ULTRA-EFFICIENT INORGANIC SOLID-STATE LIGHTING, J.M. Phillips, M.E. Coltrin, M.H. Crawford, A.J. Fischer, M.R. Krames, R. Mueller-Mach, G.O. Mueller, Y. Ohno, L.E.S. Rohwer, J.A. Simmons, J.Y. Tsao, Laser and Photonics Reviews 1, 307-333 (November, 2007).
  7. A REVIEW OF LASER MICROCHEMICAL PROCESSING, D.J. Ehrlich and J.Y. Tsao, Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology B1, 969 (1983).
  8. TOWARD SMART AND ULTRA-EFFICIENT SOLID-STATE LIGHTING, J.Y. Tsao, M.H. Crawford, M.E. Coltrin, A.J. Fischer, D.D. Koleske, G.S. Subramania, G.T. Wang, J.J. Wierer and R.F. Karlicek. Advanced Optical Materials 2(9), 809-836 (2014).
  9. SOLID-STATE LIGHTING: ‘THE CASE’ 10 YEARS AFTER AND FUTURE PROSPECTS, R. Haitz and J.Y. Tsao, Physica Status Solidi (a) 208, 17-29 (2011); and THE CASE FOR A NATIONAL RESEARCH PROGRAM ON SEMICONDUCTOR LIGHTING,” R Haitz, F Kish, JY Tsao and JS Nelson,” Optoelectronics Industry Development Association, 1999. Combined
  10. LASER MICROFABRICATION: THING FILM PROCESSES AND LITHOGRAPHY, D.J. Ehrlich, J.Y. Tsao, Eds. (Elsevier, 1989).
  11. FOUR-COLOR LASTER WHITE ILLUMINANT DEMONSTRATING HIGH-COLOR RENDERING QUALITY, A. Neumann, J.J. Wierer, W. Davis, Y. Ohno, S.R.J. Brueck and J.Y. Tsao, Optics express, vol. 19, no. 104, pp. A982-A990 (2011).
  12. LEDS FOR PHOTONS, PHYSIOLOGY AND FOOD, P.M. Pattison, J.Y. Tsao, G.C. Brainard, B. Bugbee, Nature 563 (7732), 493-500 (2018).
  13. CRITICAL STRESSES FOR SixGe1-x STRAINED-LAYER PLASTICITY, J.Y. Tsao, B.W. Dodson, S.T. Picraux, D.M. Cornelison, Physical Review Letters 59, 2455 (1987).
  14. SOLID-STATE LIGHTING: AN ENERGY-ECONOMICS PERSPECTIVE, J.Y. Tsao, H.D. Saunders, J.R. Creighton, M.E. Coltrin, J.A. Simmons, Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics 43, 354001 (2010).
  15. PARTITIONING OF ION-INDUCED SURFACE AND BULK DISPLACEMENTS, D.K. Brice, J.Y. Tsao, S.T. Picraux, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B44, 68-78 (1989).
  16. SOLID-STATE LIGHTING: AN INTEGRATED HUMAN FACTORS, TECHNOLOGY, AND ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE, J.Y. Tsao, M.E. Coltrin, M.H. Crawford, J.A. Simmons, Proceedings of the IEEE 98, 1162 (2010).
  17. SOLUTE TRAPPING: COMPARISON OF THEORY WITH EXPERIMENT, M.J. Aziz, J.Y. Tsao, M.O. Thompson, P.S. Peercy, C.W. White, Physical Review Letters 56, 2489 (1986).
  18. EXCESS STRESS AND THE STABILITY OF STRAINED HETEROSTRUCTURES, J.Y. Tsao, B.W. Dodson, Applied Physics Letters 53, 848-850 (1988).
  19. LIGHT EMITTING DIODES (LEDs) FOR GENERAL ILLUMINATION, JY Tsao, Ed. (Optoelectronics Industry Development Association, Washington DC, 2002).
  20. PATTERNED PHOTONUCLEATION OF CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION OF AI BY UV-LASER PHOTODEPOSITION, J.Y. Tsao and D.J. Ehrlich, Applied Physics Letters, vol. 45, no. 6, 1984, pp. 617-619.
  21. PHOTODEPOSITION OF Ti AND APPLICATION TO DIRECT WRITING OF Ti:LiNbO3 WAVEGUIDES, J.Y. Tsao, R.A. Becker, D.J. Ehrlich, F.J. Leonberger, Appl. Phys. Lett. 42, 559-561 (1983).

Selected Metaresearch Publications/Presentations

  1. HOW TECHNOSCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE ADVANCES: A BELL-LABS-INSPIRED ARCHITECTURE, V. Narayanamurti and J.Y. Tsao, Research Policy 53 (4) 104983 (2024).
  2. AI FOR TECHNOSCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY: A HUMAN-INSPIRED ARCHITECTURE, J.Y. Tsao, R.G. Abbott, D.C. Crowder, S. Desai, R.P.M. Dingreville, J.E. Fowler, A. Garland, P.P. Iyer, J. Murdock, S.T. Steinmetz, K.A. Yarritu, C.M. Johnson, D.J. Stracuzzi, J of Creativity 34, 100077 (2024).
  3. THE GENESIS OF TECHNOSCIENTIFIC REVOLUTIONS: RETHINKING THE NATURE AND NURTURE OF RESEARCH, V. Narayanamurti and J.Y. Tsao (Harvard University Press, 2021).
  4. CREATIVE OUTCOME AS IMPLAUSIBLE UTILITY, J.Y. Tsao, C.L. Ting, C.M. Johnson, Review of General Psychology 23, 279 (2019).
  5. NURTURING TRANSFORMATIVE US ENERGY RESEARCH: TWO GUIDING PRINCIPLES, V. Narayanamurti, J.Y. Tsao, MRS Energy & Sustainability 5, e10 (2018).
  6. THE ELECTRIFICATION OF ENERGY: LONG-TERM TRENDS AND OPPORTUNITIES, J.Y. Tsao, E.F. Schubert, R. Fouquet, M. Lave, MRS Energy & Sustainability 5, e7 (2018).
  7. THE ART OF RESEARCH: A DIVERGENT/CONVERGENT FRAMEWORK AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR SCIENCE-BASED APPROACHES, G.E. Aviña, C.D. Schunn, A.R. Silva, T.L. Bauer, G.W. Crabtree, C.M. Johnson, T. Odumosu, S.T. Picraux, R.K. Sawyer, R.P. Schneider, R. Sun, G.J. Feist, V. Narayanamurti, J.Y. Tsao, in ENGINEERING A BETTER FUTURE: INTERPLAY BETWEEN ENGINEERING, SOCIAL SCIENCES, AND INNOVATION, E. Subrahmanian, T. Odumosu and J.Y. Tsao, Eds. (Springer, 2018).
  8. COMPLEX SYSTEMS MODELS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS: TOWARDS A NEW SCIENCE OF VERIFICATION, VALIDATION & UNCERTAINTY QUANTIFICATION, Workshop Footprint Document, Jeff Tsao, Tim Trucano, Steve Kleban, Asmeret Naugle, Steve Verzi, Laura Swiler, Curtis Johnson, Mark A. Smith, Tatiana Flanagan, Eric Vugrin, Kasimir Gabert, Matt Lave, Wei Chen, Daniel DeLaurentis, Alfred Hubler, Bill Oberkampf (2016).
  9. COMMENTARY: THE SOCIAL SCIENCE OF CREATIVITY AND RESEARCH PRACTICE: PHYSICAL SCIENTISTS, TAKE NOTICE, T. Odumosu, J.Y. Tsao, V. Narayanamurti, Physics Today 68, 8-9 (2015).
  10. THE BLUE LED NOBEL PRIZE: HISTORICAL CONTEXT, CURRENT SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING, HUMAN BENEFIT, J.Y. Tsao, J. Han, R.H. Haitz, P.M. Pattison, Annalen der Physik 527, A53-A61 (2015).
  11. ART AND SCIENCE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: PROCEEDINGS OF THE FORUM AND ROUNDTABLE, G.R. Emmanuel, T. Odumosu, A.R. Silva, J.Y. Tsao, Eds. (June 5-7, 2013, Albuquerque, NM).
  12. A CASE FOR SANDIA INVESTMENT IN COMPLEX ADAPTIVE SYSTEMS SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, CM Johnson, R Colbaugh, JY Tsao, GA Backus, TJ Brown and KA Jones, Sandia National Laboratories. (2012).
  13. A BRIEF HISTORY OF SANDIA NATIONAL LABORATORIES AND THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY OFFICE OF SCIENCE: INTERPLAY BETWEEN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND MISSION, JY Tsao, SM Myers Jr, JA Simmons, A McIlroy, FL Vook, SS Collis and ST Picraux, Sandia National Laboratories. (2011).
  14. GALILEO’S STREAM: A FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION, J Tsao, K Boyack, M Coltrin, J Turnley and W Gauster, Research Policy, vol. 37, no. 2, 2008, pp. 330-352.
  15. CONSUMER PREFERENCES AND FUNDING PRIORITIES IN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, JY Tsao, Science and Public Policy, vol. 16, no. 5, pp. 294-298 (1989).