Nakamura wins $16 million to develop bulk GaN
"The ERATO award is less like the standard research grant than it is like a gift. The specifics of how I use this grant are up to me and I can determine everything myself," said Nakamura. "The ERATO grant is a wonderful, creative way of supporting research. I am deeply honored that JST has selected me as the focus for their generous and visionary support."
So far, GaN has been made only in the form of thin films, but the bulk crystal form is the key to widespread commercial use of gallium nitride in such devices as lasers and transistors. Nakamura intends to focus initially on making a special high-pressure, high-temperature vessel for gallium nitride bulk-crystal fabrication. He will also explore inhomogeneities in the nitride crystals and hopes to find mechanisms that enable the tuning of energy levels in crystals affected by the inhomogeneities.
A requirement of the ERATO grant for the UCSB research team headed by Nakamura is partnership with researchers in Japan. Nakamura says that he has chosen two of the best gallium nitride research facilities as partners: one at Japan Tokyo Science University and the other at Tsukuba University.
Jacquelyn Savani
UCSB
E-mail: jsavani@engineering.ucsb.edu
Web site: http://www.engineering.ucsb.edu
