Professor Emeritus

Location

2923 Cooley

Education

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

PhD Electrical Engineering ’73

MS Electrical Engineering ’70

BS Electrical Engineering ’68

Research Interests

• Theory of plasmas: high-power microwaves, wire Z-pinch physics, electrical contacts, heating phenomenology, diodes.

Professional Service

• Associate Editor, Physics of Plasmas (1994–2002, 3-terms)

Biography

• 1992-Present, Professor of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• 1983-1992, Research Physicist, Naval Research Laboratory
• 1980-1983, Research Physicist, Science Application Incorporation
• 1975-1979, Assistant Professor of Applied Mathematics, MIT
• 1973-1975, Instructor of Applied Mathematics, MIT

Awards

• Fellow, American Physical Society (1986)
• Fellow, IEEE (2008)
• Sigma Xi Society Applied Science Award (1989)
• IEEE Plasma Science and Application Award (1999)
• IEEE John R. Pierce Award for Excellence in Vacuum Electronics (2017)

Publications

• Number of refereed archival publications: 250
• Number of patents: 11

• Y. Y. Lau, D. Chernin, D. G. Colombant and P. T. Ho, “Quantum extension of Child-Langmuir Law,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 66, 1446 (1991).
• R. A. Kishek and Y. Y. Lau, “Multipactor discharge on a dielectric”, Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 193 (1998).
• Y. Y. Lau, F. He, D. Umstadter, and R. Kowalczyk, “Nonlinear Thomson scattering – a tutorial,” Phys. Plasmas 10, 2155 (2003).
• Y. Y. Lau, “A simple theory on the two-dimensional Child-Langmuir Law”, Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 278301 (2001).
• H. Bosman, Y. Y. Lau, and R. M. Gigenbach, “Microwave absorption on a thin film,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 82, 1353 (2003).
• Y. Y. Lau, J. W. Luginsland, K. L. Cartwright, and M. D. Haworth, “Role of ions in a crossed-field diode,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 015002 (2007).
• N. M. Jordan, Y. Y. Lau, D. M. French, R. M. Gilgenbach, and P. Pengvanich, “Electric field and electron orbits near a triple point,” J. Appl. Phys. 102, 033301 (2007).
• Peng Zhang, Ágúst Valfells, L. K. Ang, J. W. Luginsland, and Y. Y. Lau, “100 years of the physics of diodes,” Appl. Phys. Rev. 4, 011304 (2017).
• D. A. Yager-Elorriaga, Y. Y. Lau, P. Zhang, P. C. Campbell, A. M. Steiner, N. M. Jordan, R. D. McBride, and R. M. Gilgenbach, “Evolution of sausage and helical modes in magnetized thin-foil cylindrical liners driven by a Z-pinch,” Phys. Plasmas 25, 056307 (2018).
• Y. Y. Lau, D. A. Packard, C. J. Swenson, J. W. Luginsland, D. Li, A. Jassem, N. M. Jordan, and R. M. Gilgenbach, “Explicit Brillouin flow solutions in magnetrons, magnetically insulated line oscillators, and radial magnetically insulated transmission lines,” IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci., accepted for publication, 2021.

MAJOR TECH TRANSFER ACTIVITIES

Patents and Applications

• D. Umstadter, F. He, and Y. Y. Lau, “Ultra-short Wavelength X-ray System.” US Patent #7,321,604 (January 22, 2008).
• R.M. Gilgenbach, Y.Y. Lau, B.W. Hoff, D.M. French, M.A. Franzi and J.W. Luginsland, “Crossed Field Device.” US Patent #US8,841,867 B2 (September 23, 2014).
• V. B. Neculaes, R. M. Gilgenbach, and Y. Y. Lau, “Low-Noise Crossed-Field Devices Such as a Microwave Magnetron, Microwave Oven Utilizing Same and Method of Converting a Noisy Magnetron to a Low-Noise Magnetron.” US Patent #6,872,929 (March 9, 2005).