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【Member News】From 13.2 GW/cm² to 90 GHz and 8 kV: Zhang Jincheng and Xidian University's Gallium Oxide Device Breakthrough
日期：2026-10-08阅读：39
In November 2025, Science Advances published a breakthrough by the Xidian University team in gallium oxide RF devices as one of its cover papers. The work achieved a maximum oscillation frequency of 90 GHz, an output power density of 4.1 W/mm at 6 GHz, and a minimum noise figure of 0.48 dB at 8 GHz. Professor Zhou Hong was the first author, while Professor Zhang Jincheng was one of the corresponding authors.
Six months later, in August 2026, the same team presented a p-NiO/n-Ga₂O₃ dual-superjunction MOS junction field-effect transistor (DSJ-MOSJFET) at the IEEE VLSI Symposium, demonstrating bidirectional blocking beyond 8 kV and a power figure of merit exceeding 1 GW/cm².
The corresponding-author lists of both papers feature the same name: Zhang Jincheng. He serves as a key device-development lead in Academician Hao Yue’s team’s gallium oxide research.
1.The Foundation: From “Hao Yue’s Protégé” to “Vice President”
To understand Zhang Jincheng’s role in gallium oxide research, it is first necessary to trace the two defining strands of his professional identity.
Clue One: Hao Yue’s Protégé
Publicly available information clearly records that Zhang Jincheng began studying under Academician Hao Yue in 1998, focusing on wide-bandgap semiconductor electronic materials and devices. He is recognized as one of the prominent scholars in China and internationally who pioneered research into wide-bandgap (third-generation) semiconductor materials and electronic devices.
This mentorship shaped Zhang Jincheng’s work on gallium oxide into something far removed from a “trendy research topic.” Rather, it represents a direct continuation of Hao Yue’s strategic focus on ultra-wide-bandgap semiconductors. From Hao Yue setting the direction to Zhang Jincheng leading a research team to tackle key challenges, this research lineage has continued for nearly three decades.
Clue Two: Vice President of Xidian University and Professor of the Second Grade
Zhang Jincheng currently serves as Vice President of Xidian University of Electronic Science and Technology (Xidian University) and a member of the university’s Party Standing Committee. He is also a second-grade professor and doctoral supervisor. He is a recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, a Chang Jiang Distinguished Professor appointed by the Ministry of Education, and a National Ten Thousand Talents Program leading talent.
He also serves as:
Vice President of Xidian University of Electronic Science and Technology
Director of the Guangzhou Third-Generation Semiconductor Innovation Center
Deputy Director of the National Engineering Research Center for Wide-Bandgap Semiconductor Devices and Integrated Circuits
Deputy Director of the National Key Laboratory of Wide-Bandgap Semiconductor Technology
Academic Track Record
Published more than 400 SCI-indexed papers in high-impact journals and conferences, including Nature Communications, Science Advances, Advanced Materials, IEDM, and VLSI, with more than 260 papers as first or corresponding author.
Holds 210 granted invention patents, including 9 U.S. patents.
Authored 4 academic books.
His publications have received more than 10,000 SCI citations, with an H-index of 63.
Recipient of two Second Prizes of the National Award for Technological Invention (ranked first and second, respectively), four First Prizes for Provincial/Ministerial-Level Science and Technology, and one First Prize of the National Teaching Achievement Award.
Taken together, these two strands make Zhang Jincheng’s role clear: he serves as the “translator” between Hao Yue’s strategic vision and Xidian University’s frontline gallium oxide research efforts. Hao Yue set the broader direction of “independent equipment, independent materials, and independent devices,” while Zhang Jincheng translates that vision into concrete, measurable, and publishable device research projects.
2.The “Execution Logic” Behind His Gallium Oxide Research
In 2023, when Zhang Jincheng was interviewed by the Asian Gallium Oxide Alliance in his capacity as Chair of the Alliance’s Technical Expert Committee, he gave a systematic overview of his team’s research in gallium oxide:
“Under the leadership of Academician Hao Yue, we have continued the research tradition of an integrated equipment–materials–devices approach. We have developed domestically produced MOCVD equipment and Mix-CVD equipment for gallium oxide epitaxy, along with high-performance epitaxial materials. The performance of our high-concentration, high-mobility n-type gallium oxide epitaxial materials has reached an internationally advanced level. We have also developed a series of high-voltage gallium oxide power diodes, power transistors, and RF transistors, with device performance maintaining an internationally leading position in recent years.”
Several key points emerge from this statement:
Integrated Development
“Equipment–materials–devices integration”—these eight characters capture the essence of Hao Yue’s gallium oxide strategy dating back to 2018. Zhang Jincheng is not focused solely on devices. Under his leadership, the team has built an integrated chain spanning MOCVD and Mix-CVD equipment upstream, as well as n-type doped epitaxial materials, providing the foundation for internationally leading device performance downstream.
Full-Spectrum Device Development
The team has developed a broad range of gallium oxide devices, including:
High-voltage power diodes: Developed various novel termination structures, including ion-implanted, junction-based, and PN heterojunction structures, achieving high-voltage diodes rated at 3 kV, 6 kV, 8 kV, and 10 kV.
Power transistors: Developed novel structures such as the dual-superjunction (DSJ) MOSJFET.
RF transistors: Developed Ga₂O₃-on-AlN heterogeneously integrated RF power MOSFETs.
Thermal Management Solutions
“To address the thermal management challenges of gallium oxide, we have developed gallium oxide transistors on silicon carbide and diamond substrates, providing thermal management solutions for lateral devices.”
This statement provides the broader industrial context for the team’s 2025 Nature Communications paper on diamond-based gallium oxide devices.
3.Three Milestones: The “Report Card” of an Executor
If we trace Zhang Jincheng’s work in gallium oxide along a timeline, three milestones stand out as particularly representative:
Milestone One: 13.2 GW/cm² (2022)
In August 2022, a team led by Academician Hao Yue, including Professors Zhang Jincheng and Zhou Hong, developed a p-NiO/n-Ga₂O₃ heterojunction diode. By leveraging the hole superinjection effect, the device achieved a power figure of merit of 13.2 GW/cm², the highest value reported to date for gallium oxide semiconductor devices. The work was published in Nature Communications.
The wording used by Xidian University News is particularly revealing: “Since 2018, under the leadership of Academician Hao Yue,” Xidian University of Electronic Science and Technology has advanced China’s gallium oxide power-device research to an internationally leading level through a series of technological innovations, including indigenously developed MOCVD equipment for gallium oxide growth, high-quality gallium oxide epitaxial materials, and novel structures and fabrication processes for high-voltage devices.
The subject of this statement is “under the leadership of Academician Hao Yue,” while the execution was carried out by the teams of Zhang Jincheng and Zhou Hong. This is precisely the collaborative model of a “strategic architect” working alongside a “technical executor.”
Milestone Two: 90 GHz RF Device (2025)
In November 2025, Professor Zhang Jincheng’s research team published a cover paper in Science Advances, reporting the first heterogeneous integration of a gallium oxide thin film with a high-thermal-conductivity aluminum nitride (AlN) substrate.
The device achieved:
Maximum oscillation frequency: 90 GHz
Output power density at 2 GHz: 4.6 W/mm
Output power density at 6 GHz: 4.1 W/mm
Minimum noise figure at 8 GHz: 0.48 dB
Professor Zhou Hong was the first author, while Professor Zhang Jincheng, Professor Yuhao Zhang of the University of Hong Kong, and Dr. Min Zhou of Xidian University were the corresponding authors.
The research involved collaboration with Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Virginia Tech in the United States. This work demonstrated, for the first time, the potential of gallium oxide RF devices to simultaneously achieve high frequency, high power, and low noise.
Milestone Three: Dual-Superjunction DSJ-MOSJFET (2026)
In August 2026, Academician Hao Yue, Professor Zhang Jincheng, Professor Zhou Hong, and Researcher Zhang Xiaodong from the Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, among others, presented a p-NiO/n-Ga₂O₃ dual-superjunction MOS junction field-effect transistor (DSJ-MOSJFET) at the 2026 IEEE/JSAP VLSI Symposium:
Bidirectional blocking voltage: >8 kV
Power figure of merit (BV²/Ron,sp): >1 GW/cm²
Threshold-voltage shift after 150 cycles: only 0.03 V
Threshold-voltage shift after 1,000 s of positive gate bias stress: <0.1 V
This work represents the first international demonstration and fabrication of a p-NiO/n-Ga₂O₃ dual-superjunction MOSJFET reverse-blocking transistor, overcoming the bottleneck of existing Ga₂O₃ devices, whose reverse breakdown voltage has remained below 5 kV.
4.From an Industry–Academia–Research Perspective: Zhang Jincheng’s Role in the “Collaborative Network”
From the perspective of commercialization, Zhang Jincheng’s distinctive value lies in his role as a key node connecting Hao Yue’s strategic vision with broader industry–academia–research collaboration.
Collaboration with Industry
China Resources Microelectronics: In early 2026, the teams of Academician Hao Yue, Professor Zhang Jincheng, and Professor Zhou Hong collaborated with China Resources Microelectronics to publish research on p-Cr₂O₃/n-Ga₂O₃heterojunction diodes in Science China Information Sciences. The devices achieved a 100 A current output, setting a new record for the power figure of merit of gallium oxide devices with an active area exceeding 1 mm².
Fujia Gallium: Based on thick-film Ga₂O₃ epitaxial wafers grown by MOCVD and supplied by Fujia Gallium, a team from Fuzhou University fabricated vertical power Schottky diodes with a power figure of merit (PFOM) of 3.07 GW/cm². This provides an indirect indication of the synergy between Xidian University’s device-development approach and Fujia Gallium’s substrate/epitaxial-material capabilities.
Collaboration with the Alliance
Zhang Jincheng serves as Chair of the Technical Expert Committee of the Asian Gallium Oxide Alliance (AGOA). This means that he is not only the “executor” of Xidian University’s gallium oxide research, but also a “coordinator” within the broader gallium oxide industry–academia–research network across Asia.
Through the Alliance platform, he helps share Xidian University’s expertise in device development with more than 60 member organizations, including universities, research institutes, and industry players.
Future Research Directions
In a 2023 interview with the Asian Gallium Oxide Alliance, Zhang Jincheng stated explicitly:
“In the future, Xidian University’s gallium oxide research will continue to focus on cutting-edge technologies, including large-size, high-quality gallium oxide epitaxial equipment and epitaxial growth, high-voltage power devices, and high-power RF devices, while working with industry partners to continuously advance the engineering development and commercialization of gallium oxide materials and devices.”
This statement makes the role of an “executor” particularly clear: frontier breakthroughs in novel device structures + engineering and commercialization through collaboration with industry constitute the two main tracks Zhang Jincheng has established for Xidian University’s gallium oxide research.
Author’s Assessment
President Zhang Jincheng is not simply “another Chang Jiang Distinguished Professor.” More importantly, he serves as the “translator” between Hao Yue’s strategic vision and frontline gallium oxide research at Xidian University. My assessment has three dimensions:
First, the “executor” is the most accurate characterization of Zhang Jincheng.
Hao Yue established the strategic direction of “independent equipment → independent materials → independent devices” in 2018, and over the following eight years, Zhang Jincheng translated this strategy into three tangible milestones: 13.2 GW/cm², 90 GHz, and 8 kV. Without Zhang Jincheng’s execution, Hao Yue’s strategy would remain a blueprint; without Hao Yue’s strategic direction, Zhang Jincheng’s device breakthroughs would be a collection of isolated papers. Together, the two form a “twin-star” partnership in China’s gallium oxide development.
Second, the core strengths of Zhang Jincheng’s team lie in “novel device structures + heterogeneous integration.”
Whether it is p-NiO/n-Ga₂O₃ heterojunctions, Ga₂O₃-on-AlN RF devices, gallium oxide/diamond thermal management, or dual-superjunction DSJ-MOSJFETs, the central innovations consistently revolve around structure and integration. This creates a clear division of labor with the substrate-focused approaches of Fujia Gallium and Garen Semiconductor. The model of “universities tackling devices, industry tackling substrates” is precisely one of the defining features of China’s gallium oxide development landscape.
Third, Zhang Jincheng is pushing Xidian University’s gallium oxide research from “publication leadership” toward “industrial collaboration.”
The collaboration with China Resources Microelectronics that resulted in a 100 A diode, his role in coordinating more than 60 member organizations through the Asian Gallium Oxide Alliance, and his explicit commitment to “working with industry partners to advance engineering development and commercialization” all point to the same direction: Zhang Jincheng is increasingly addressing the final mile between the laboratory and the production line. At the potential inflection point for gallium oxide commercialization in 2026, this may be one of the most critical capabilities.
