Gallium(III) nitride
Overview
Boron group
The boron group is the series of elements in group 13 of the periodic table, comprising boron , aluminium , gallium , indium , thallium , and ununtrium . The elements in the boron group are characterized by having three electrons in their outer energy levels...
/V
Nitrogen group
The nitrogen group is a periodic table group consisting of nitrogen , phosphorus , arsenic , antimony , bismuth and ununpentium ....
direct bandgap semiconductor
Semiconductor
A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity due to electron flow intermediate in magnitude between that of a conductor and an insulator. This means a conductivity roughly in the range of 103 to 10−8 siemens per centimeter...
commonly used in bright light-emitting diode
Light-emitting diode
A light-emitting diode is a semiconductor light source. LEDs are used as indicator lamps in many devices and are increasingly used for other lighting...
s since the 1990s. The compound is a very hard material that has a Wurtzite crystal structure
Wurtzite crystal structure
thumb|150px|right|General hexagonal crystal structureThe wurtzite crystal structure, named after the mineral wurtzite, is a crystal structure for various binary compounds. It is an example of a hexagonal crystal system....
. Its wide band gap
Band gap
In solid state physics, a band gap, also called an energy gap or bandgap, is an energy range in a solid where no electron states can exist. In graphs of the electronic band structure of solids, the band gap generally refers to the energy difference between the top of the valence band and the...
of 3.4 eV
Electronvolt
In physics, the electron volt is a unit of energy equal to approximately joule . By definition, it is equal to the amount of kinetic energy gained by a single unbound electron when it accelerates through an electric potential difference of one volt...
affords it special properties for applications in optoelectronic, high-power and high-frequency devices. For example, GaN is the substrate which makes violet (405 nm) laser diodes possible, without use of nonlinear optical frequency-doubling.
Its sensitivity to ionizing radiation
Ionizing radiation
Ionizing radiation is radiation composed of particles that individually have sufficient energy to remove an electron from an atom or molecule. This ionization produces free radicals, which are atoms or molecules containing unpaired electrons...
is low (like other group III
Boron group
The boron group is the series of elements in group 13 of the periodic table, comprising boron , aluminium , gallium , indium , thallium , and ununtrium . The elements in the boron group are characterized by having three electrons in their outer energy levels...
nitride
Nitride
In chemistry, a nitride is a compound of nitrogen where nitrogen has a formal oxidation state of −3. Nitrides are a large class of compounds with a wide range of properties and applications....
s), making it a suitable material for solar cell
Solar cell
A solar cell is a solid state electrical device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect....
arrays for satellite
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
s.
Unanswered Questions
