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Topic · Condensed Matter Physics

GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials

GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials is a research topic within Condensed Matter Physics. Science Explorer counts 49k research works in it since 1950. 9.9% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the first-principles calculations, properties, and applications of III-nitride semiconductors, particularly Gallium Nitride (GaN) and its alloys. It covers topics such as defects and impurities, band parameters, high-power light-emitting diodes (LEDs), AlGaN/GaN HEMTs, nanowires, UV LEDs, and their applications in solid-state lighting.

  • III-Nitrides
  • Semiconductors
  • Light-Emitting Diodes
  • GaN
  • AlGaN/GaN HEMTs
  • Defects and Impurities
  • Solid-State Lighting
  • Nanowires
  • UV LEDs
  • Band Parameters
Research works
49k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
4.8k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.9%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+5%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
45% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials

Which countries lead GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (2.7k and 916 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 2.7k works
  2. 2 United States 916 works
  3. 3 India 553 works
  4. 4 Japan 500 works
  5. 5 Taiwan 288 works
  6. 6 Germany 286 works
  7. 7 South Korea 267 works
  8. 8 France 258 works
  9. 9 Russia 175 works
  10. 10 Italy 139 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 44.5%United States: 15.0%India: 9.1%Japan: 8.2%6 others listed: 23.2%45%largest
China2,716 · 44.5%United States916 · 15.0%India553 · 9.1%Japan500 · 8.2%6 others listed1,413 · 23.2%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials research?

By volume in 2022-now, Chinese Academy of Sciences publishes the most GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials research, followed by Xidian University and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 300 works
  2. 2 Xidian UniversityChina 178 works
  3. 3 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 109 works
  4. 4 University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaChina 85 works
  5. 5 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 84 works
  6. 6 National Yang Ming Chiao Tung UniversityTaiwan 79 works
  7. 7 Peking UniversityChina 70 works
  8. 8 University of Science and Technology of ChinaChina 65 works
  9. 9 Nagoya UniversityJapan 59 works
  10. 10 Polish Academy of SciencesPoland 58 works

Who are the leading researchers in GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials?

The most-cited researchers publishing on GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials include Zhong Lin Wang, Georg Kresse and George M. Whitesides.

  1. 1 Zhong Lin Wang United States 491k citations
  2. 2 Georg Kresse Austria 431k citations
  3. 3 George M. Whitesides United States 267k citations
  4. 4 Wei Huang China 267k citations
  5. 5 Yi Ping Cui United States 261k citations
  6. 6 Ben Zhong Tang China 261k citations
  7. 7 Kenji Watanabe Japan 237k citations
  8. 8 Takashi Taniguchi Japan 227k citations
  9. 9 Kai You Wang China 224k citations
  10. 10 Jürgen Furthmüller Germany 217k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials?

The most cited paper in GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials is "Candela-class high-brightness InGaN/AlGaN double-heterostructure blue-light-emitting diodes" (Shuji Nakamura, Takashi Mukai, Masayuki Senoh, 1994), with 3,816 citations. Next come "GaAs, AlAs, and Al x Ga1− x As: Material parameters for use in research and device applications" (3,287) and "First-principles calculations for defects and impurities: Applications to III-nitrides" (3,256).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Candela-class high-brightness InGaN/AlGaN double-heterostructure blue-light-emitting diodes Shuji Nakamura, Takashi Mukai, Masayuki Senoh · Applied Physics Letters 28 Mar 1994 3,816
2 GaAs, AlAs, and Al x Ga1− x As: Material parameters for use in research and device applications Sadao Adachi · Journal of Applied Physics Aug 1985 3,287
3 First-principles calculations for defects and impurities: Applications to III-nitrides Chris G. Van de Walle, Jörg Neugebauer · Journal of Applied Physics 25 Mar 2004 3,256
4 Spontaneous polarization and piezoelectric constants of III-V nitrides Fabio Bernardini, Vincenzo Fiorentini, David Vanderbilt · Physical review. B, Condensed matter Open access 15 Oct 1997 3,096
5 Direct-bandgap properties and evidence for ultraviolet lasing of hexagonal boron nitride single crystal Kenji Watanabe, Takashi Taniguchi, Hisao Kanda · Nature Materials 23 May 2004 3,062
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials research done?

The largest centres of GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Xi'an (China), Nanjing (China) and Guangzhou (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Hsinchu and Santa Barbara.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 516 works
  2. 2 Xi'anChina 268 works
  3. 3 NanjingChina 193 works
  4. 4 GuangzhouChina 171 works
  5. 5 ShanghaiChina 161 works
  6. 6 HsinchuTaiwan 121 works
  7. 7 ChengduChina 117 works
  8. 8 TokyoJapan 114 works
  9. 9 SeoulSouth Korea 112 works
  10. 10 ShenzhenChina 105 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. HsinchuTW · 120.7 works20×
  2. Santa BarbaraUS · 49.0 works20×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials than the world average.

See GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials on the map

Where is the best place to study GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials?

Among universities, judged by research, Virginia Tech, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology and Xidian University score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 20.07%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Virginia TechCornell UniversityKing Abdullah Univer…Xidian University
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Virginia TechUnited States 68.934.6%6.4×23 +12.3%
2King Abdullah University of Science and TechnologySaudi Arabia 67.925.0%18.8×33 +6.0%
3Xidian UniversityChina 60.69.3%38.9×178 +71.2%
4Cornell UniversityUnited States 57.628.9%3.6×30 +4.9%
5Hong Kong University of Science and TechnologyChina 57.319.4%11.8×31 -34.4%
6University of California, Santa BarbaraUnited States 57.019.0%24.4×49 -34.1%
7University of Science and Technology of ChinaChina 56.913.6%8.7×65 +170.1%
8University of MichiganUnited States 56.826.5%3.7×36 +16.3%
9Peking UniversityChina 54.815.0%5.4×70 +35.4%
10National Yang Ming Chiao Tung UniversityTaiwan 54.19.4%30.9×79 +53.6%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials, country by country

Is GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 5% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2011. The fastest-growing topics are GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.033% in 2024.

still counting0.050%0.10%GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials0.031% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials9.7% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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