Cornell Chronicle: Aluminum nitride transistor advances next-gen RF electronics

By Syl Kacapyr | Cornell Engineering | December 4, 2025

View Original Article: Aluminum nitride transistor advances next-gen RF electronics | Cornell Chronicle

Cornell researchers have developed a new transistor architecture that could reshape how high-power wireless electronics are engineered, while also addressing supply chain vulnerabilities for a critical semiconductor material.

The device, called an XHEMT, includes an ultra-thin layer of gallium nitride built on bulk single-crystal aluminum nitride, a semiconductor material with low defect densities and an ultrawide bandgap – properties that allow it to withstand higher temperatures and voltages while reducing electrical losses.

The device was detailed Nov. 29 in the journal Advanced Electronic Materials and the research was co-led by Huili Grace Xing, the William L. Quackenbush Professor, Debdeep Jena, the David E. Burr Professor – both in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and the Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science – and doctoral student Eungkyun Kim.

The XHEMT is designed for radio frequency power amplifiers, a critical component of 5G and emerging 6G wireless networks, as well as radar systems for national defense applications. These amplifiers push large amounts of electrical power at high frequencies, conditions that generate heat and degrade performance.

The technology’s progress toward commercial readiness was highlighted Dec. 1 in the journal APL Materials, which showed wafer-scale growth of the XHEMT structure on 3-inch aluminum nitride wafers – work supported through the Northeast Regional Defense Technology Hub, also known as NORDTECH.