Research:

Our group’s research is dedicated to the advancement of III-nitride wide bandgap semiconductors (GaN, AlN, AlGaN, InGaN, and InAlGaN). These semiconductors are recognized as a very important technological material system for the fabrication of optoelectronic devices operating in the blue and UV spectral regions and electronic devices capable of operating under high power and high temperature conditions. Our group’s concentration areas are epitaxial growth, micro- and nano-structure and device fabrication, and fundamental optical and transport investigations. Examples of our research topics are highlighted below:

The III-nitride photonic crystal LEDs with feature size in sub-100 nm range, demonstrated first by our group, is being recognized as one of the most prominent technologies to boost the LED efficiency for solid-state-lighting technology.
We have pioneered the growth and fabrication of UV & blue micro- and nano-size photonic structures and devices based on III-nitrides, including micro-size emitters, submicron waveguides, micropyramids, microlens arrays, and photonic crystals – laid the groundwork for achieving photonic integrated circuits which are active in blue and UV regions.
Our group has made the transition, for the first time, from basic research to practical device components by utilizing tiny micro-size. Examples include the world’s first prototype semiconductor blue microdisplay and interconnected microdisk LEDs.
Our work on the fundamental optical transitions in III-nitrides has revealed that, as a direct consequence of the band structure of AlN, the TM mode is the dominant laser emission in UV laser diodes (LDs) using high Al-content AlGaN as active layers, in contrast to all other semiconductor LDs in which the TE mode is the dominant lasing emission. This revelation will have a significant implication on the future design of UV LDs based upon AlGaN.
By minimizing the density of native defects, our group has achieved high Al content AlGaN alloys with record high conductivities and expanded active photonic materials into the deep UV spectral range down to 200 nm.
Our group’s contributions to the advancement of science also include the development of an unprecedented DUV picosecond time-resolve photoluminescence spectroscopy system for probing fundamental properties of excitons and free carriers and their dynamics in a wide range of nano-scale materials.

Find out more about our research at our Research Areas page.

Our research is supported by: NSF, DOE, ARO, AFOSR,and DARPA

The founding of the TTU Nanophotonics Research Program would not have been possible without the support of Mr. Ed Whitacre and the AT & T Foundation.

Contact Information:

Prof. Hongxing Jiang, Ed Whitacre Endowed Chair of ECE
Tel: (806)-834-5737
Fax: 806-742-1245
hx.jiang@ttu.edu

Prof. Jingyu Lin, Linda Whitacre Endowed Chair of ECE
Tel. (806)-834-5383
Fax: 806-742-1245
Jingyu.lin@ttu.edu

Postal address
Nanophotonics Lab
Engineering and Technology Lab Building
10th and Akron Ave.
Texas Tech University
Lubbock, TX 79409