Using both faces of polar semiconductor wafers for functional devices

Unlike non-polar semiconductors such as silicon, the broken inversion symmetry of the wide-bandgap semiconductor gallium nitride (GaN) leads to a large electronic polarization along a unique crystal axis1. This makes the two surfaces of the semiconductor wafer perpendicular to the polar axis substantially different in their physical and chemical properties2. In the past three decades, the cation (gallium) face of GaN has been used for photonic devices such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and lasers3–5. Although the cation face has also been predominantly used for electronic devices, the anion (nitrogen) face has recently shown promise for high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) owing to favourable polarization discontinuities6. In this work, we introduce dualtronics, showing that it is possible to make photonic devices on the cation face and electronic devices on the anion face of the same semiconductor wafer. This opens the possibility for making use of both faces of polar semiconductors in a single structure, in which electronic, photonic and acoustic properties can be implemented on opposite faces of the same wafer, markedly enhancing the functional capabilities of this revolutionary semiconductor family.