Mark Allen
Alfred Fitler Moore Professor
Chair, Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering
University of Pennsylvania
Date: October 9, 2026
Time: 3:00 – 4:00 PM ET
Location: Grier Room A (34-401)
ABSTRACT
The use of magnetic materials in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) - both magnetically soft (permeable materials) and magnetically hard (permanent magnets) - opens rich new applications sets for MEMS. This presentation will discuss multiple applications based on magnetic MEMS: point-of-load power conversion, adaptive RF filtering of microwave signals, and magneto-optomechanical relays for EMI-immune switch control.
To achieve compact switching power converters, both switching at high frequency and the use of high saturation flux density materials such as iron-based alloys are desirable. However, at high switching frequencies, electrically conducting magnetic materials may suffer from eddy current loss. Allen will discuss a materials fabrication technique that allows additive fabrication of a multiscale magnetic material from a large number of insulated iron alloy sheets (lamina), at individual sheet thickness scales that suppress eddy currents (on the order of submicron to microns), and at total thicknesses (on the order of tens to hundreds of microns) that allow significant power handling. Applications in step-down power conversion for electronic systems and universal input (100-220V) chargers, as well as step-up conversion for compact powering of piezoelectric actuators, will be discussed.
In the adaptive filter application, the use of magnetics in yttrium iron garnet (YIG) spin-wave filters will be presented. YIG has an interesting property that the allowed propagation frequency of spin waves through this material depends on the magnitude of an externally applied static magnetic field. By varying this external magnetic field, the filter frequency can be changed without any geometric adjustment to the YIG itself. Current commercial approaches to YIG-based adaptive filters involve the use of power-intensive electromagnets; Allen will discuss the use of programmable permanent magnetic circuits to create adaptive filters in the GHz range that consume zero DC power.
Finally, in high power conversion applications, optical control of the gate drives of switching converters prevents transient noise from interfering with shutoff signals in the event of a fault. Allen will discuss an integrated photonic circuit with a surface micromachined magnetic suspension that can interfere with the evanescent wave of an optical signal propagating through an integrated waveguide, attenuating the signal and turning off the switching transistors in the event of an overcurrent fault.
BIOGRAPHY
Mark G. Allen received undergraduate degrees in chemistry, chemical engineering, and electrical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania (Penn), and the S.M. and Ph.D. degrees from MIT.
Allen then joined the faculty of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech, ultimately holding the rank of Regents’ Professor and the J.M. Pettit Professorship in Microelectronics, as well as multiple administrative positions, including Senior Vice Provost for Research and Innovation, and Director of the Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology. In 2013 he returned to Penn to become the Alfred Fitler Moore Professor of Electrical and Systems Engineering (ESE) and Scientific Director of the Singh Nanotechnology Center. He held this latter post until 2024, when he became ESE Department Chair.
His research interests are in the development and the application of new micro- and nanofabrication technologies, as well as microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). He has held the posts of co-chair of the IEEE MEMS Conference, co-chair of the Power MEMS Conference, chair of the Solid State Sensors, Actuators, and Microsystems Conference (‘Hilton Head’), and chair of the IEEE Power Supply on a Chip (PwrSoC) conference. He has also co-founded multiple MEMS companies, including Cardiomems, Axion Biosystems, and Enachip.
Allen received the IEEE 2016 Daniel P. Noble Award for Emerging Technologies “for contributions to research and development, clinical translation, and commercialization of biomedical microsystems.” He is a Fellow of the IEEE, and an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Inventors, and the National Academy of Engineering.