Wide-bandgap semiconductors
Chip materials such as gallium nitride and silicon carbide that handle high power and high frequencies.
China leads wide-bandgap semiconductors research, with 40.8% of the 10% most cited papers published 2021–2025; the United States is second with 18.6%.
Standings
Share of the 10% most cited papers, 2021–2025; 747 papers. Source: OpenAlex, pulled 18 October 2026. Method
Year by year
China
Everyone else, on a larger scale
Share of the 10% most cited papers published in each year. Source: OpenAlex, pulled 18 October 2026. Method
Inside the field
Always the top 10%PilotEach paper sorted into one sub-area by an AI model reading its title and abstract, then credited as usual. On 200 hand-labelled papers it chose the same sub-area, or a defensible second, 92% of the time.
| Sub-area | Papers | First | Second | Third |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gallium oxide transistors and power diodes | 144 | CNChina43.1% | USUnited States19.7% | INIndia5.0% |
| Ultraviolet photodetectors (gallium oxide, AlGaN) | 108 | CNChina72.3% | INIndia6.7% | KRSouth Korea5.6% |
| Gallium nitride power transistors and devices | 86 | CNChina27.9% | USUnited States26.6% | INIndia7.5% |
| Power modules, packaging and thermal management | 78 | CNChina40.1% | USUnited States24.4% | JPJapan8.2% |
| Gallium nitride RF transistors and power amplifiers | 77 | CNChina27.8% | USUnited States26.4% | INIndia8.3% |
| Silicon carbide power devices and processing | 65 | CNChina44.7% | USUnited States13.9% | ITItaly6.0% |
| Crystal growth, doping and defect physics | 56 | CNChina30.5% | USUnited States22.5% | JPJapan7.3% |
| Diamond, aluminium nitride and other ultra-wide-bandgap materials | 37 | USUnited States37.3% | CNChina26.0% | JPJapan17.2% |
| Colour centres and spin defects for quantum technology | 30 | CNChina22.8% | USUnited States16.4% | AUAustralia11.2% |
| LEDs and light emitters (InGaN, micro-LED) | 21 | CNChina40.6% | MYMalaysia9.0% | JPJapan7.9% |
Share of each sub-area's papers in the top 10%. Source: OpenAlex, pulled 18 October 2026. Method
Earlier and recent
The same top 10%, split into 2021–2023 and 2024–2025.
Greyed rows rest on fewer than five papers of credit in one period.
Share of the 10% most cited papers: 383 papers in 2021–2023, 364 in 2024–2025. Source: OpenAlex, pulled 18 October 2026. Method
2026 so far: a different count
Not the most cited papers: every 2026 paper matched so far (1,640), and a paper counts in full for each country on it. This year's papers are too new to rank by citations, so these shares cannot be compared with the ones above.
- CNChina47.3%of 2026 papers have an author here
- USUnited States14.0%of 2026 papers have an author here
- JPJapan6.6%of 2026 papers have an author here
- INIndia5.8%of 2026 papers have an author here
- KRSouth Korea5.2%of 2026 papers have an author here
Who cites the top papers
How much more often a country's top papers are cited from home than its size predicts. Expected is the country's share of all papers in the field; the bar is the excess, in percentage points. Home citers include authors citing their own earlier work.
Based on up to 100 of each country's most cited single-country papers in the top 10%. Source: OpenAlex, pulled 18 October 2026. Method
Behind the share
Institutions with the most credit
- 1CNXidian University3.2%
- 2CNUniversity of Science and Technology of China3.2%
- 3USVirginia Tech2.2%
- 4USCornell University1.6%
- 5CNFudan University1.6%
- 6CNChinese Academy of SciencesGovernment lab1.5%
- 7CNNanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications1.4%
- 8CNZhejiang University1.1%
- 9CNChongqing University1.0%
- 10CNXiamen University1.0%
Share of the top 10%. Institutions across all 45 technologies
Who does the work
| Sector | All | CN | US | JP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Universities | 79.0% | 86.3% | 83.2% | 48.2% |
| Research facilities | 12.6% | 7.5% | 9.2% | 22.6% |
| Companies | 4.0% | 1.0% | 6.5% | 25.6% |
| Government labs | 3.2% | 4.8% | 0.4% | 3.0% |
Share of credit by type of institution, overall and for the three leading countries.
Across borders
29.6% of the top 10% have authors in more than one country.
- CNUSChina with United States26
- CNHKChina with Hong Kong23
- JPUSJapan with United States16
- CNGBChina with United Kingdom15
- CNJPChina with Japan13
Most frequent pairings, by number of shared papers.
The papers behind the numbers
The five most cited papers this definition catches. If one looks out of place, the definition needs work.
- GaN-based power devices: Physics, reliability, and perspectivesJournal of Applied Physics, 2021CHFRIT709citations
- Ultra-wide bandgap semiconductor Ga2O3 power diodesNature Communications, 2022CN660citations
- β-Gallium oxide power electronicsAPL Materials, 2022BEDEJPUS532citations
- A Strategic Review on Gallium Oxide Based Deep‐Ultraviolet Photodetectors: Recent Progress and Future ProspectsAdvanced Optical Materials, 2021IN490citations
- Progress on AlGaN-based solar-blind ultraviolet photodetectors and focal plane arraysLight Science & Applications, 2021CN486citations
More in computing and ai
- Large language modelsChina leads
- AI chipsChina leads
- Advanced chip manufacturingChina leads
- High-performance computingUnited States leads
- CybersecurityChina leads
- Distributed ledgersChina leads
- Advanced roboticsChina leads
The most technologically advanced countries, and is China ahead of the US?
How this technology is defined
A paper counts if its title or abstract matches the search below. Articles in core journals and proceedings only; retracted papers are excluded.
"gallium nitride" OR "silicon carbide" OR "gallium oxide" OR "wide bandgap" OR "ultrawide bandgap" OR "GaN HEMT"and its main topic in OpenAlex is one of: GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials; Silicon Carbide Semiconductor Technologies; Ga2O3 and related materials; Advanced Power Amplifier Design; Diamond and Carbon-based Materials Research; Radiation Effects in Electronics; Electronic Packaging and Soldering Technologies. The topic check removes papers that only mention the technology.
- Papers matched, 2021–2025
- 7,446
- In the top 10%
- 747
- In the top 1%
- 77
- Countries with credit
- 56
- Credit with no known country
- 3.7%
Every one of the 898 most cited papers was checked for relevance; 14 were left out as not about wide-bandgap semiconductors
The most cited of those left out:
- Cu-Cu joint formation by low-temperature sintering of self-reducible Cu nanoparticle paste under ambient condition74 citations
- Spin-active defects in hexagonal boron nitride73 citations
- Progress in Diamanes and Diamanoids Nanosystems for Emerging Technologies64 citations
- Energy Regulation in White-Light-Emitting Diodes61 citations
- Fiber-Coupled Diamond Magnetometry with an Unshielded Sensitivity of 30 pT / Hz59 citations
- Reliability of Ag Sinter-Joining Die Attach Under Harsh Thermal Cycling and Power Cycling Tests52 citations
- Coalescence kinetics and microstructure evolution of Cu nanoparticles sintering on substrates: a molecular dynamics study44 citations
- Sensing spin wave excitations by spin defects in few-layer-thick hexagonal boron nitride44 citations
- Laser writing of spin defects in nanophotonic cavities41 citations
- Analysis, Design, and Experimental Assessment of a High Power Density Ceramic DC-Link Capacitor for a 800 V 550 kVA Electric Vehicle Drive Inverter38 citations
- Diamond MEMS: From Classical to Quantum28 citations
- Nanodiamond Coating in Energy and Engineering Fields: Synthesis Methods, Characteristics, and Applications25 citations
Definition version 0.5, pilot. It is a plain text file: copy it, change it, rerun it.