gallium nitride
New technique boosts high-power potential for gallium nitride electronics
Gallium nitride (GaN) material holds promise for emerging high-power devices that are more energy efficient than existing technologies — but these GaN devices traditionally break down when exposed to high voltages. Now researchers at North C…
Nanowires exhibit giant piezoelectricity
Gallium nitride (GaN) and zinc oxide (ZnO) are among the most technologically relevant semiconducting materials. Gallium nitride is ubiquitous today in optoelectronic elements such as blue lasers (hence the blue-ray disc) and light-emitting-diodes (…
The practical full-spectrum solar cell comes closer
Solar cells are made from semiconductors whose ability to respond to light is determined by their band gaps (energy gaps). Different colors have different energies, and no single semiconductor has a band gap that can respond to sunlight’s full…
Voiding defects: New technique makes LED lighting more efficient
Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are an increasingly popular technology for use in energy-efficient lighting. Researchers from North Carolina State University have now developed a new technique that reduces defects in the gallium nitride (GaN) films use…
Accidental finding could lead to full-spectrum solar cell
Researchers have found that the electrical properties of the semiconductor indium nitride are different from what been previously thought — by a wide margin. The result is that an alloy incorporating the material can convert virtually the full spectrum of sunlight — from the near infrared to the far ultraviolet — to electrical current. “It’s as if nature designed this material on purpose to match the solar spectrum,” said one researcher involved.