Semiconductors are the most important part of the electronics for the modern society. A good semiconductor should have a right band gap, high carrier mobility in both electrons and holes, etc., but semiconductors with larger band gap, higher carrier mobility, higher thermal conductivity, better matched coefficient of thermal expansion, etc. are very much needed for the future. Boron arsenide (BAs) seems to be the ideal semiconductor we are dreaming of. It has a bandgap of 2.1 eV, carrier mobility above 1400 cm2 s-1 V-1 for both the electrons and holes, isotropic thermal conductivity higher than 1,300 W m-1 K-1 at room temperature, etc. In this presentation, I will present on what has been done and what is expected on this special material.
Zhifeng Ren is an M. D. Anderson Chair Professor of Department of Physics and the Director of the Texas Center for Superconductivity at the University of Houston (TcSUH). He received his BS in 1984 from Xihua University, MS in 1987 from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and PhD in 1990 from the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. His research focuses on thermoelectrics with high ZT, boron arsenide single crystals for high thermal conductivity and carrier mobility, enhanced oil recovery, water splitting for H2 generation, heated filters for catching and killing SARS-CoV-2 causing COVID-19 pandemic, carbon nanotubes, solar absorbers, flexible transparent conductors, superconductors, etc.