Abstract

The research in Japan on the wide-bandgap materials for short-wavelength light emitting devices based on modem growth techniques of MOVPE and MBE started in early 1980s. The first attempt to organize a cooperative research system for wide-gap semiconductors in Japan can be traced back to the year 1984, when about 20 university research groups which had already been engaged in research on wide-gap II-VI materials gathered and started to make plans for joint research. This was followed by a three-year period research project on the property control of compound semiconductors, especially of II-VI, wide-gap III-V and I-III-VI₂ materials, within a priority area research program for "New Functionality Materials - Design, Preparation and Control", which started in 1987 under support of the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture. It was renewed in 1990 as an advanced project for additional three years, and since then it has been running with emphasis on atomic-scale control of crystal growth, control of localized electronic states, creation of new optical functionality, quantum structures and new properties, and control of material properties for new optical devices. Under the project, the growth of wide-gap II-VIs, especially of ZnSe and related alloys and superlattices has been very actively studied in many university laboratories.

© 1992 Optical Society of America