Bands, bonds, and polarizations in nitrides - from electronic orbitals to electronic devices

A key property of the nitrides is the fact that they posses large spontaneous and piezoelectric polarization fields that allow a significant tailoring of the carrier dynamics and optical properties of nitride devices. In this paper, based on first-principle calculations of structural and electronic properties of bulk nitrides and their heterostructure, we investigate the potential of this novel material class for modern device applications by performing self-consistent Monte Carlo simulations. Our studies reveal that the nitride based electronic devices have characteristics that predispose them for high power and high frequency applications. We demonstrate also that transistor characteristics are favourably influenced by the internal polarization induced electric field. (author)