Silicon carbide (SIC), gallium nitride (GAN), zinc oxide (ZnO), diamond, aluminum nitride (AlN) as the representative of wide band gap semiconductor materials are called the third generation semiconductor materials. Compared with the first and second generation semiconductor materials, the third generation semiconductor materials have wide band gap, high breakdown electric field, high thermal conductivity, high electron saturation rate and higher radiation resistance, so they are more suitable for high temperature, high frequency, radiation resistance and high power devices. They are also known as wide band gap semiconductor materials (band gap greater than 2.2ev), Also known as high temperature semiconductor materials.

In addition, the third generation semiconductor materials are widely used in some blue, green and purple light-emitting diodes and semiconductor lasers due to their high luminous efficiency and high frequency. By the way, this kind of wide band gap semiconductor materials have higher light emission efficiency and higher photon emission frequency because of the high efficiency of electron transition between energy bands and the high energy of photons emitted during the transition.

From the current research of the third generation semiconductor materials and devices, silicon carbide and gallium nitride semiconductor materials are more mature, among which silicon carbide technology is the most mature, while the research of wide band gap semiconductor materials such as zinc oxide, diamond and aluminum nitride is still in its infancy. It is believed that with the deepening of the research, their application prospects will be very broad.