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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. 14.9% 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%
7.3k
per year above
Top-10% rate
14.9%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
-8%
the tick is no change

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

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (2.3k and 805 works in 2022–2025).

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China 2.3k works
  2. 2 United States 805 works
  3. 3 India 499 works
  4. 4 Japan 447 works
  5. 5 Germany 258 works
  6. 6 Taiwan 257 works
  7. 7 France 239 works
  8. 8 South Korea 235 works
  9. 9 Russia 168 works
  10. 10 Italy 126 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: 43.5%United States: 15.0%India: 9.3%Japan: 8.3%6 others listed: 23.9%43%largest
China2,331 · 43.5%United States805 · 15.0%India499 · 9.3%Japan447 · 8.3%6 others listed1,282 · 23.9%

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

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

By volume in 2022–2025, Xidian University publishes the most GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials research, followed by Chinese Academy of Sciences and University of Electronic Science and Technology of China.

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Xidian UniversityChina 155 works
  2. 2 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 94 works
  3. 3 University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaChina 73 works
  4. 4 National Yang Ming Chiao Tung UniversityTaiwan 70 works
  5. 5 University of Science and Technology of ChinaChina 55 works
  6. 6 Peking UniversityChina 54 works
  7. 7 Nagoya UniversityJapan 51 works
  8. 8 University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 46 works
  9. 9 South China University of TechnologyChina 43 works
  10. 10 University of California, Santa BarbaraUnited States 41 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 J. Furthmüller, Frede Blaabjerg and Zhong Lin Wang.

  1. 1 J. Furthmüller Germany 14k citations
  2. 2 Frede Blaabjerg Denmark 12k citations
  3. 3 Zhong Lin Wang United States 11k citations
  4. 4 Kenji Watanabe Japan 6.4k citations
  5. 5 Takashi Taniguchi Japan 6.2k citations
  6. 6 Wei Huang China 5.5k citations
  7. 7 Alex Zunger United States 4.7k citations
  8. 8 Marco Liserre Germany 4.6k citations
  9. 9 K. Smith United Kingdom 3.9k citations
  10. 10 Alexander A. Balandin United States 3.8k citations

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

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

The largest centres of GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials research in 2022–2025 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, Santa Barbara and Nagoya.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 466 works
  2. 2 Xi'an China 234 works
  3. 3 Nanjing China 174 works
  4. 4 Guangzhou China 154 works
  5. 5 Shanghai China 147 works
  6. 6 Hsinchu Taiwan 106 works
  7. 7 Chengdu China 104 works
  8. 8 Tokyo Japan 102 works
  9. 9 Seoul South Korea 98 works
  10. 10 Shenzhen China 92 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. HsinchuTW · 105.7 works19×
  2. Santa BarbaraUS · 41.3 works18×
  3. NagoyaJP · 85.7 works14×
← 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, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Southern University of Science and Technology 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 22.29%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →King Abdullah University of Science and Technology: 31, 21.6%Hong Kong University of Science and Technology: 27, 22.1%Southern University of Science and Technology: 41, 10.2%Xidian University: 155, 10.8%Karunya University: 8, 27.4%National Institute Of Technology Silchar: 13, 21.3%Nagoya University: 50, 15.9%Virginia Tech: 21, 36.3%Cornell University: 21, 35.3%University of California, Santa Barbara: 41, 22.0%Hong Kong University…King Abdullah Univer…Xidian UniversitySouthern University …
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1 King Abdullah University of Science and TechnologySaudi Arabia 75.421.6%17.5×31 +198.8%
2 Hong Kong University of Science and TechnologyHong Kong 64.222.1%10.9×27 -3.7%
3 Southern University of Science and TechnologyChina 64.110.2%12.0×41 +1107.8%
4 Xidian UniversityChina 62.110.8%33.4×155 +59.7%
5 Karunya UniversityIndia 62.027.4%9.1×8 +306.1%
6 National Institute Of Technology SilcharIndia 61.621.3%12.3×13 +611.8%
7 Nagoya UniversityJapan 61.315.9%16.9×50 +88.6%
8 Virginia TechUnited States 60.136.3%5.8×21 +73.4%
9 Cornell UniversityUnited States 60.035.3%3.3×21 +179.7%
10 University of California, Santa BarbaraUnited States 59.522.0%20.3×41 -15.2%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 8% lower than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2011. The fastest-growing topics are GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

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

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.