This book covers the full spectrum of activity in the GaN and related materials arena. These semiconductors are finding applications in full-color displays, high-density information storage, white lighting for outdoor or backlit displays, solar-blind UV detectors, high-power/high-temperature electronics, and covert undersea communications. Progress is been reported in the growth of thick layers on patterned substrates by various methods, leading to lower overall defect concentrations and improved current-voltage and reliability characteristics. The rapidly increasing market for blue/green LEDs is also noted by the entry of a number of new companies to the field. While these emitter technologies continue to be dominated by MOCVD material, there are exciting reports of UV detectors and HFET structures grown by MBE with device performance at least as good as by MOCVD. Topics include: GaN electronic and photonic devices; laser diodes and spectroscopy; electronic devices and processing; quantum dots and processing; novel growth, doping and processing and rare-earth doping and optical emission.

The unique materials properties of GaN-based semiconductors have stimulated a great deal of interest in research and development regarding nitride materials growth and optoelectronic and nitride-based electronic devices. High electron mobility and saturation velocity, high sheet carrier concentration at heterojunction interfaces, high breakdown field, and low thermal impedance of GaN-based films grown over SiC or bulk AlN substrates make nitride-based electronic devices very promising. The chemical inertness of nitrides is another key property.This volume, written by experts on different aspects of nitride technology, addresses the entire spectrum of issues related to nitride materials and devices, and it will be useful for technologists, scientists, engineers, and graduate students who are working on wide bandgap materials and devices. The book can also be used as a supplementary text for graduate courses on wide bandgap semiconductor technology.

This book on gallium nitride (GaN) and associated materials focuses on advances in basic science, as well as the rapidly maturing technologies involving blue/green light emitters, detectors and high-power electronics. A highlight is a report on wide-bandgap semiconductor research done in Europe. Also reported is the commercialization of a laser operating at 405nm wavelength with a 4000-hour device lifetime. At 450nm emission wavelength, significant reductions in lifetime were found, and are believed to arise from nonideal properties of the InGaN alloy used in the active layer of the device. Additional topics include: the significant success of transistors for microwave applications; improvements in the epitaxy of GaN, using both selective area growth techniques (lateral epitaxy overgrowth) and introducing low-temperature intralayers in the films; advances in both molecular beam epitaxy and metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy, including several studies of quantum dot formation in strained alloys and improvements in hydride vapor phase epitaxy, particularly for providing very thick films.

This proceedings volume is the permanent record of the Materials Research Society symposium entitled "GaN and Related Alloys," held November 30-December 4, 1998, at the MRS Fall Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts. The symposium covered the full spectrum of activity in the GaN and related materials arena. These semiconductors are finding applications in full-color displays, high- density information storage, white lighting for indoor or backlit displays, solar-blind UV detectors, high-power/high-temperature electronics, and for covert undersea communications. The symposium contained a plenary session with talks on laser diodes, electronic devices, substrates, etching, contacts, and piezoelectric and pyroelectric properties. This was followed by sessions on laser diodes and spectroscopy; conventional growth and characterization; epitaxial lateral overgrowth and selective growth; theory, defects, transport, and bandstructure; surfaces, theory, and processing; LEDs, UV detectors, and optical properties; electronic devices and processing; quantum dots; novel growth, doping, and processing; and finally, rare-earth doping and optical emission.

This dissertation employs doping to investigate basic gallium nitride (GaN) crystal properties and to solve challenges of the hydride vapour phase epitaxy (HVPE) growth process. Whereas the first chapter is a short introduction to the history of the GaN single crystal growth, the 2nd chapter introduces to current crystal growth techniques, discusses properties of the GaN material system and the resulting influence on the applicable crystal growth techniques. HVPE, as a vapour phase epitaxy crystal growth method will be explained in greater detail, with focus on the used vertical reactor and its capabilities for doping. The 3rd chapter then focusses on point defects in GaN, specifically on intentionally introduced extrinsic point defects used for doping purposes, i.e. to achieve p-type, n-type or semi-insulating behaviour. Different dopants will be reviewed before the diffusion of point defects in a solid will be discussed. The in-situ introduction of iron, manganese, and carbon during crystal growth is employed in chapter 4 to compensate the unintentional doping (UID) of the GaN crystals, and therefore to achieve truly semi-insulating behaviour of the HVPE GaN. However the focus of this chapter lies on the characterisation of the pyroelectric coefficient (p), as semi-insulating properties are a necessary requirement for the applied Sharp-Garn measurement method. The creation of tensile stress due to in-situ silicon doping during GaN crystal growth is the topic of the 5th chapter. The tensile stress generation effect will be reproduced and the strain inside the crystal will be monitored ex-situ employing Raman spectroscopy. The n-type doping is achieved by using a vapour phase doping line and a process is developed to hinder the tensile strain generation effect. The 6th chapter concentrates on the delivery of the doping precursor via a solid state doping line, a newly developed doping method. Similar to chapter 5, the doping line is characterised carefully before the germanium doping is employed to the GaN growth. The focus lies on the homogeneity of the germanium doping and it is compared compared to the silicon doping and the vapour phase doping line. Benefits and drawbacks are discussed in conjunction with the obtained results. The germanium doping via solid state doping line is applied to the HVPE GaN growth process to measure accurately growth process related properties unique to the applied set of GaN growth parameters.

The field of organic optical materials is rapidly growing, and advances are being made both in attaining a deeper understanding of device phenomena and in designing improved materials for thin films, fibers and waveguides. This book offers an interdisciplinary discussion of research on electronic and photonic devices made with organic and polymeric materials. The 1999 MRS Spring Meeting was highlighted by several major advances in fields ranging from nonlinear absorbers and electro-optic polymers, to photorefractive polymers, organic transistors and electroluminescent materials and devices for displays. This book highlights developments in materials chemistry and physics relevant to such devices and strikes a balance between basic science and technology. Topics include: nonlinear optical materials; photorefractive polymers; and electronic and light-emitting materials.