After the first discovery of silicon (Si), a revolutionary and innovative era for a brand-new class of materials, semiconductors, began to shine. Over decades, Si has become indispensable in various applications such as data storage and processing in computers and smartphones that are used frequently nowadays. With the increasing need for efficiency and colorful display, two new critical materials are synthesized, which are gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC). These two materials have higher temperature endurance, excellent performance in high-frequency and high-voltage equipment such as electric vehicles and satellite communications, and are unprecedentedly suitable for light-emitting diode (LED) productions due to their nature of being direct bandgap semiconductors compared with Si, which is an indirect bandgap semiconductor. In this paper, the structures, applications, and limitations of the two new materials were discussed, and the principles behind these outstanding properties are explained. It traces the historical evolution of LEDs and the role of semiconductors in modern electronics, emphasizing the progression from Si to GaN and SiC to meet contemporary technological needs.
