ALEXEY Ivanov has finally found his Chinese Dream in Zhangjiagang of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. The German of Russian extraction, 40, rides an electric bike to work, loves spicy Sichuan food and takes up to two hours a day learning Chinese, though “it’s really difficult.”

Physicist Ivanov is vice president of CorEnergy Semiconductor Technology Co Ltd, a Chinese-grown gallium nitride (GaN) epitaxy and device fabrication specialist, concentrating on power electronics applications. The firm is based in Zhangjiagang, a small city about one hour’s drive from Suzhou.

“You must have heard people always say ‘American Dream’ and many Chinese have gone to the United States to pursue their dreams,” Ivanov said. “Some succeeded; some failed. But I can tell you now, it’s the time for ‘Chinese Dream’ because I see the future there.”

With talk of nanometers, silicon and GaN wafers, a physicist’s world can be hard to understand.

Before coming to CorEnergy, Ivanov held various key positions in Infineon, a German semiconductor solutions provider, and Aixtron, a supplier of metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) systems to produce transistors.

Last year, the MOCVD expert joined CorEnergy as the deputy director of technology, leading a research team to develop GaN technology on silicon. What he is working on is a “powerful transistor” using GaN technology, which can help save 99 percent of energy.

“People today cannot live without chargers. When they charge their mobile phones or other devices, at least 30 percent of the energy gets lost,” Ivanov said. “But with this powerful transistor, you can easily make it to about 95 percent. Energy-saving is just one side of the story. If the technology is mature, it will be quite cheap.”

Currently, this technology is under development. There are sample devices produced in the US and Japan with more advanced technologies. But about 80 percent of the world’s companies in the industry are at the same level.

“All of us still have a long way to go to get this technology to mass production,” he said. “But the good thing is Chinese are not left behind. For our company, it will take three years (to make the technology mature), and I’m very confident.”

In China, there are only two companies developing GaN technology. The other one is in Kunshan, not far from Zhangjiagang. Though the two companies are in the same market, the open-minded physicist is willing to interpret the competition more as “collaboration.”

“Yes, we are in the same market, but the market is so huge and we take only a small part of the market, so we cannot even meet to compete. Take it as a cake, and we only take a very small piece of the cake,” he said.

“It’s better to say we are working together toward the same goal, to make electricity more sustainable and more environmentally friendly in China. The technology is beyond borders and it can benefit not only China but everywhere in the world,” Ivanov said.

His last job was working as a project manager at Aixtron AG, responsible for process and hardware development as well as advanced process support at a customer site for LED, high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) and GaN-on-Si processes.

This job had him shuttling from Europe to North America to Asia, helping high-tech companies adapt the technology of MOCVD system to produce transistors.

It was in 2011 that Ivanov came to China for the first time. At the time he was working with a Taiwanese company based in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, to help use the MOCVD system. Then he was visiting more companies in China and working in many different locations in the country, such as Hefei in Anhui Province, Nanchang in Jiangxi, Guangzhou in Guangdong and others.

At that time, the physicist was trying to make GaN transistors on silicon, but Aixtron was only producing MOCVD. One day he walked into CorEnergy and found the company was doing what he was always dreaming about.

“I wanted to concentrate more on this technology. I know it’s the future,” Ivanov said.

When he was traveling around China, the German became impressed with the big support the Chinese government gave to this new technology. He met many Americans and Europeans working here.

“China is like a huge magnet attracting flocks of people from around the world. That is not the case in Europe,” he said.

Before Aixtron, Ivanov worked in the semiconductor industry in Germany, doing dynamic random access memory (DRAM) for five years. But the technology declined and the DRAM business became bankrupt.

“In Europe, there was no support for this kind of company to stay in the market. They just let the company die,” he recalled. “So I was really surprised to see how the Chinese government was in full support of developing high technology.”

Last year Ivanov and his Russian wife settled down in Zhangjiagang. He gets up at 7 every morning and rides his electric bike to the company. There is a lot of work to do everyday as the company is young and is expending quickly.

“You know what surprised me most? Electric bike! It’s awesome!” he said. “We don’t have this green, cheap vehicle in Germany and even in Europe. In Germany, they are still talking about mobility with some electricity engine, but here in China, you just have this problem easily solved! Amazing!

“You Chinese don’t realize what you have and you take many things as normal. But for a foreigner working in high-tech industry, I see huge market and a great future,” Ivanov said.

The German is in love with Sichuan food, which many locals cannot accept because of its spice. “You are not Chinese. I’m Chinese,” he said jokingly.

Every week, the couple will hang out together to try different Chinese restaurants. During holidays they travel to Changzhou, where Ivanov worked for almost a year, to visit old friends.

The Suzhou government welcomed Ivanov with very simple procedures and housing subsidies, which he said is much easier and faster than in Germany.

“Germans are highly automatic in these things, but I was really surprised the Suzhou government could be so generous to this level,” he said.

Like many expats living in China, pollution is the biggest problem Ivanov cares about.

“But fortunately, I’m doing the clean career to improve the things and make my contribution,” he said. “Based on my experience and my profession, I can provide my knowledge, expertise to this special area to make electricity greener, safer and make people consume less energy. And in the end, all of us will benefit. Technology has no border; it’s open for everyone.”