This book is on recent experimental and theoretical progress in the rapidly growing field of III-V nitrides. Issues related to crystal growth (bulk and thin films), structure and microstructure, formation of defects, doping, alloying, formation of heterostructures, determination of physical properties and device fabrication and evaluation are addressed. Papers show much progress in the growth and understanding of III-V nitrides and in the production of optoelectronic devices based on these materials. Most exciting is the fact that light-emitting diodes and laser diodes have now reached amazing levels of performance which forecasts a revolution in lighting, optical storage, printing, and display technologies. Topics include: crystal growth- bulk growth, early stages of epitaxy; crystal growth- MOCVD; growth techniques - MBE and HVPE; novel substrates and growth techniques; structural properties; electronic properties; luminescence and recombination; characterization, elemental and stress analysis; physical modelling; device processing, implantation, annealing; device characterization, contacts, degradation; and injection laser diodes and applications.

Research advances in III-nitride semiconductor materials and device have led to an exponential increase in activity directed towards electronic and optoelectronic applications. There is also great scientific interest in this class of materials because they appear to form the first semiconductor system in which extended defects do not severely affect the optical properties of devices. The volume consists of chapters written by a number of leading researchers in nitride materials and device technology with the emphasis on the dopants incorporations, impurities identifications, defects engineering, defects characterization, ion implantation, irradiation-induced defects, residual stress, structural defects and phonon confinement. This unique volume provides a comprehensive review and introduction of defects and structural properties of GaN and related compounds for newcomers to the field and stimulus to further advances for experienced researchers. Given the current level of interest and research activity directed towards nitride materials and devices, the publication of the volume is particularly timely. Early pioneering work by Pankove and co-workers in the 1970s yielded a metal-insulator-semiconductor GaN light-emitting diode (LED), but the difficulty of producing p-type GaN precluded much further effort. The current level of activity in nitride semiconductors was inspired largely by the results of Akasaki and co-workers and of Nakamura and co-workers in the late 1980s and early 1990s in the development of p-type doping in GaN and the demonstration of nitride-based LEDs at visible wavelengths. These advances were followed by the successful fabrication and commercialization of nitride blue laser diodes by Nakamura et al at Nichia. The chapters contained in this volume constitutes a mere sampling of the broad range of research on nitride semiconductor materials and defect issues currently being pursued in academic, government, and industrial laboratories worldwide.

III-Nitride semiconductor materials — (Al, In, Ga)N — are excellent wide band gap semiconductors very suitable for modern electronic and optoelectronic applications. Remarkable breakthroughs have been achieved recently, and current knowledge and data published have to be modified and upgraded. This book presents the new developments and achievements in the field.Written by renowned experts, the review chapters in this book cover the most important topics and achievements in recent years, discuss progress made by different groups, and suggest future directions. Each chapter also describes the basis of theory or experiment.The III-Nitride-based industry is building up and new economic developments from these materials are promising. It is expected that III-Nitride-based LEDs may replace traditional light bulbs to realize a revolution in lighting. This book is a valuable source of information for engineers, scientists and students working towards such goals./a

Optoelectronics and electronics of the years to come are likely to change dramatically. Most of the outdoor lighting systems will be replaced by light-emitting diodes that operate in the whole visible part of the electromagnatic spectrum. Transistors operating at high frequency and with high power are under development and likely to hit the market very rapidly. Compact solid-state lasers that operate in the near-ultraviolet range are going to be utilized for such widely used applications as read-write tasks in printer and CD drives. Ultraviolet detectors will be used at a wide scale for many application, ranging from flame detectors to medical instruments. This book concerns itself with the questions why nitride semiconductors are so promising over such a wide range of applications, what the current issues are in the research laboratories, and what the prospects of new electronic devices are in the dawn of the twenty-first century.

The MRS Symposium Proceeding series is an internationally recognised reference suitable for researchers and practitioners.

In a uniform and comprehensive manner the authors describe all the important aspects of the epitaxial growth processes of solid films on crystalline substrates, e.g. processes in which atoms of the growing film mimic the arrangement of the atoms of the substrate. Emphasis is put on sufficiently fundamental and unequivocal presentation of the subject in the form of an easy-to-read review. A large part of this book focuses on the problems of heteroepitaxy. The most important epitaxial growth techniques which are currently widely used in basic research as well as in manufacturing processes of devices are presented and discussed in detail.