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What is gallium nitride?

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Gallium nitride (GaN) is a direct bandgap semiconduc­tor that combines gallium (atomic number 31) and nitrogen (atomic number 7). It has a very hard hexagonal crystal structure, is very stable and has a wide bandgap. All semiconduc­tor materials have a bandgap, an energy range where no electrons can exist. The wider the bandgap, the higher voltages it can sustain, and higher temperatur­es it can tolerate. Gallium nitride’s bandgap is 3.4 eV, while silicon’s is only 1.12 eV.

As well as a wide bandgap, a GaN transforme­r has a higher breakdown strength, better thermal conductivi­ty, a faster switching speed and lower on-resistance, making it ideal for power-based devices. According to EPC Corporatio­n, GaN conducts electrons more than 1,000 times more efficientl­y than silicon.

Gallium nitride is the technology that makes possible high-resolution colour screens found in flat-screen television­s, mobile phones, tablets, notebook computers and monitors. It’s also used to generate the blue lasers used in Blu-ray players.

QWhy don’t Apple silicon Macs support Windows for ARM in Boot Camp? byJOHN RUSHTON

AIn terms of hardware, Intel Macs are only really a special build of PC, and getting them to start in and run Microsoft Windows was relatively straightfo­rward. Although made a bit more complicate­d with the addition of the T2 chip, they have remained highly compatible with other PCs.

Not only do Apple silicon Macs have a completely different processor with a different set of instructio­ns, but all the supporting electronic­s in their chips are different too.

While the special versions of Windows made for Microsoft’s ARM-based Surface touchscree­n systems are built to run on ARM processors, they’re designed for completely different firmware and supporting hardware systems.

Apple silicon Macs have to start up from their internal SSD, from which they prepare to run macOS. There is a point in that process that can be used to run another operating system, like Asahi Linux, but for that to work with Windows on ARM it would require a lot of changes. Unless Microsoft decides to build in support for Apple’s hardware, the only way to run Windows on Apple silicon is in a virtual machine, as that can provide Windows and Linux with virtual devices in software.

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 ?? ?? Gallium nitride has a hard crystaline structure, and conducts electrons more efficientl­y than silicon. Source: GaN Wurtzite crystal structure, Wikipedia
Gallium nitride has a hard crystaline structure, and conducts electrons more efficientl­y than silicon. Source: GaN Wurtzite crystal structure, Wikipedia
 ?? ?? Unless Microsoft decides to port Windows for ARM to Apple silicon, a virtual machine is the only option.
Unless Microsoft decides to port Windows for ARM to Apple silicon, a virtual machine is the only option.

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