Naci Balkan has been active in semiconductor research since 1975, when he started his PhD at the University of Glasgow. At the time, his main interest was in the field of amorphous semiconductors, in particular, Ge and Si grown with thermal evaporation or RF sputtering. He continued with research in amorphous semiconductors until 1983 and published widely on low frequency AC loss in amorphous Si and Ge. Between 1980 and 1983 he worked as a lecturer at Hacettepe, and Bogazici universities in Turkey. He joined the semiconductors group at Essex as a senior research officer in 1984, where his research interests moved to hot-electron transport, optical spectroscopy and instabilities in low dimensional III-V material systems such as GaAs/ GaAlAs and GaInAs/GaAs quantum wells. In 1990, he became a lecturer and established his own research group in semiconductor materials and devices. The application of hot-electrons in optoelectronic devices became the focal point of his interest. This research led to the discovery of hot-electron vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (HELLISH - VCSEL) and top-hat HELLISH for wavelength conversion and optical amplification. He is also engaged in the study of novel material systems for applications in optoelectronic devices, including GaN, GaInAsN, and GaInAsP, GaBiN  for displays, lasers and solar cells. He has participated in over 25 national and international projects as either principal investigator or co-investigator, or consultant with funding from a wide range of sources including: EPSRC, NATO, TUBITAK-Turkey, the British Council, the European Commission, the Royal Society and the University of Essex. He has published over 200 research papers and book chapters, edited and co-edited special issue scientific journals, four reference books and co-authored a text book and a popular science book. He serves in the scientific committees of prominent international scientific conferences.

Optoelectronic Materials & Devices Lab Information

OM&D Laboratory Virtual Tour

DINAMITE Network of Excellence

Publications

National and International Activities

COST Action MP805: Novel Gain Materials and Devices based on III-V-N Compounds

Research Group Photo