(Invited) Defect and Impurity Characterization in Wide Bandgap Materials and Interfaces: Impact on Thermal Transport

Abstract

Wide bandgap materials are suitable for high power and high temperature applications. However, these materials must also transport heat from the active device regions effectively. Structural defects, chemical defects, and interface properties can degrade performance. Electron microscopy and x-ray scattering based techniques are employed to provide insight into the defects present in these materials. When these techniques are integrated with thermal transport measurements and theoretical insights gained from molecular dynamics simulations, a much better understanding of thermal transport in wide bandgap materials can be realized. Examples of how defects impact transport for diamond boundary interfaces, AlN layers, and GaN heterostructures will be presented.