Fall MRS meeting reviews developments in optoelectronic materials

Fall MRS meeting reviews developments in optoelectronic materials

The Materials Research Society (MRS; Boston, MA) meeting last November highlighted recent work with gallium nitride (GaN), organic materials and devices, integration of dissimilar materials in optoelectonic devices, and infrared semiconductor materials and devices. The paid-attendance figure of about 4600 was the best yet for the meeting. As has become traditional, Shuji Nakamura of Nichia Chemical Industries (Kaminaka, Japan) led off the GaN session--this year with an update on violet-emitting indium gallium nitride (InGaN) multiple-quantum-well laser diodes grown on epitaxially laterally overgrown GaN on sapphire. He also teased the audience with a display of a GaN-based ultraviolet-output light-emitting diode. A theme of several other sessions was the virtues of self-assembled structures, including applications in developing conjugated polymers for lasing and electroluminescence by Gunther Leising (Technishe Universität; Graz, Austria) and colloidal materials with diffractive optical properties by Sanford Asher (University of Pittsburgh; Pittsburgh, PA). See www.mrs.org.