Nitride Semiconductors

The 14th International Conference on Nitride Semiconductors (ICNS-14) was held in Fukuoka, Japan, from 12 to 17 November, 2023. ICNS is one of two alternating premier biennial conferences covering all aspects of III-nitride semiconductor science, engineering, and industry. The conference in 2023 was originally planned to be held in 2021 following the success of previous conferences, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was postponed to 2023. The conference was very well attended, with 1,241 participants from 32 countries. A total of 916 abstracts were submitted, resulting in 424 oral and 407 poster presentations. The conference topics included Growth (epitaxial growth; bulk growth; doping and point defects; alloys; microstructures; theory; growth methods and related technologies; and optical and electronic devices), Characterization (optical and electrical properties; structural analysis; defect characterization; nano-photonics and nano-electronics; crystal band structures and electronic states of defects; and theory and simulation), Optical Devices (light emitting devices (UV/VIS-LEDs, lasers, and μLEDs); photovoltaics; energy harvesting; photodetectors; sensors; actuators; acoustic devices; nanostructures and nano-devices; new materials; and device concepts), and Electronic Devices (transistors, diodes, switches, and amplifiers; power and RF applications; device processing and fabrication; transport and switching properties; novel device concepts; contacts; and reliability). For each topic, 7 excellent plenary talks and 65 invited talks were delivered. The plenary speakers were Hiroshi Amano (Nagoya University), Aurélien David (Google), Åsa Haglund (Chalmers University of Technology), Debdeep Jena (Cornell University), Ken Nakata (Sumitomo Electric), Elison Matioli (EPFL), and Takashi Mukai (Nichia Corporation). Professor Amano's presentation included a tribute to the late Professor Isamu Akasaki. We acknowledge the plenary and invited speakers and, needless to say, all the participants, for their excellent contributions to a stimulating conference. It is our great pleasure to publish special issues of physica status solidi (a), (b), and RRL containing a total of 114 papers that were presented at ICNS-14. This issue of physica status solidi (a) contains 59 papers mainly related to the topics of Optical Devices and Electronic Devices. The physica status solidi (b) special issue contains 43 papers mainly related to the topics of Growth and Characterization, and the physica status solidi RRL special issue contains 12 papers delivered as the plenary and invited talks. We hope that readers will feel the liveliness of the conference from the papers in these special issues. Finally, we would like to acknowledge all the committee members, industrial sponsors, and the publication team of physica status solidi for their excellent support of ICNS-14. Hiroshi Fujioka (The University of Tokyo) Conference Chair Hideto Miyake (Mie University) Steering Chair Hideki Hirayama (Riken) Program Chair Yoichi Yamada (Yamaguchi University), Mitsuru Funato (Kyoto University), Ryuji Katayama (Osaka University), Kazunobu Kojima (Osaka University), Shuhei Ichikawa (Osaka University), Hideaki Murotani (National Institute of Technology, Tokuyama College), and Masahiro Uemukai (Osaka University) Guest Editors (Publication committee members)