Wide bandgap III-Nitride semiconductors : opportunities for future optoelectronics

The world at the end of the 20th century has become "blue". Indeed, this past decade has witnessed a "blue rush" towards the develpment of violet-blue-green light emitting diodes (LEDs) and laser diodes (LDs) based on wide bandgap III-Nitride semiconductors. And the hard work has culminated with, first, the demonstration of commercial high brightness blue and green LEDs and of commercial violet LDs, at the very and of this decade. Thanks to their extraordinary properties, these semiconductor materials have generated a plethora of activity in semiconductor science and technology. Novel approaches are explored daily to improve the current optoelectronics state-of-the-art. Such improvements will extend the usage and the efficiency of new light sources (e.g. white LEDs), support the rising information technology age (e.g. high density optical data storage), and enhance the environmental awareness capabilities of humans (ultraviolet and visible photon detectors and sensor). Such opportunities and many others will be reviewed in this presentation.