GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials

Gallium nitride and its related III-nitride compounds are wide-bandgap semiconductors whose unusual electronic and optical properties make them the material of choice for blue and ultraviolet light-emitting diodes, high-power transistors, and solid-state lighting systems that have largely replaced incandescent bulbs worldwide. Researchers study everything from the atomic-scale behavior of defects and impurities—which can silently degrade device efficiency—to the quantum mechanics of electron confinement in nanowires and thin heterostructures like AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors used in radar and power electronics. A persistent challenge is understanding exactly why certain defects limit the efficiency of UV LEDs, which would unlock applications in water purification and medical diagnostics but currently lag far behind their visible-light counterparts in performance. Much of the theoretical work relies on first-principles calculations to predict how dopants, dislocations, and alloy composition affect band structure and carrier dynamics, guiding the design of devices before they are ever grown in a laboratory.

Works

127,962

Total citations

1,798,119

Keywords

III-NitridesSemiconductorsLight-Emitting DiodesGaNAlGaN/GaN HEMTsDefects and Impurities