Aluminum nitride–based semiconductorunlocks possibilities for LEDs

A research team at Georgia Tech has created an ultrawide bandgap semiconductor with AlN that can be used at significantly higher power and temperature levels than previously achieved.

Long used as an electrical insulator, aluminum nitride (AlN) might be a key to unlocking newfound capabilities for LEDs, high-power electronics, and optoelectronics — but as a semiconductor. The high thermal conductivity and electrical insulating abilities of the material, an engineered ceramic, suit its current use in electronic devices for heat dissipation.

To achieve the significant conductivity improvements in p- and n-type AlN, the researchers used innovative methods to create the material. Semiconductors begin as pure elements, such as silicon, that scientists then dope with specific impurities to form crystals with targeted electrical, thermal, structural, and optical properties. Here, Doolittle and his team doped AlN with beryllium, long predicted as the best p-type dopant for AlN and GaN, according to their September 2021 paper in Advanced Materials.