CPOS Seminar: "III-nitride thin-film photonics for heterogeneous integration"

Speaker: Yifan Yao, Postdoctoral Researcher, Solid state Lighting and Energy Electronics Center (SSLEEC), UC Santa Barbara

III-nitride is an important material system for modern photonics, enabling emerging applications such as high-resolution micro-displays and high-speed optical communication systems due to its wide bandgap, high efficiency, and fast speed capability. These applications increasingly require integration with integrated circuits, photonics platforms, or unconventional substrates, where direct epitaxial growth of GaN is often not feasible. As a result, heterogeneous integration has become essential for advancing system-level performance and scalability. Here, we present a thin-film lift-off and transfer technique based on electrochemical etching, enabling the controlled release of GaN device layers with minimal damage. Using this approach, we demonstrate the monolithic transfer of micro-LED arrays onto silicon wafers, preserving spatial alignment and device integrity. This platform offers a scalable pathway toward integrated GaN photonic systems for next-generation displays, optical interconnects, and hybrid photonic technologies.