Rong Teng

How and why did you join the Cambridge Centre for Gallium Nitride?

During the final year of my undergraduate studies, I spent six months as a research student at Nagoya University. My supervisor suggested that I apply to the Cambridge Centre for Gallium Nitride because his colleague, Markus, was a former postdoc there.

Building on my research experience with nitrides, I decided to apply for Master's by Research. I started the application process a bit late and hadn't sent any cold emails by November. (While it is always better to contact professors ahead of time, I was too busy to realize it.) Fortunately, everything moved swiftly once I submitted my application. I had an interview with Gunnar and Rachel in January and received my offer in early March. After navigating the long ATAS and visa processes, here I am!

What is your role in the GaN group?

I am an MPhil (by research) student in the group, staying for a full year from October 2025 to September 2026. Research MPhil is a less common track, so there are only two of us in the department this year.

My work focuses on investigating carrier lifetime and recombination mechanisms in deep-ultraviolet (DUV) AlGaN quantum wells using time-resolved cathodoluminescence (CL). Sometimes I conducted CL measurement alone and sometimes under the supervision kindly provided by Zeki.

Describe a typical day in your working life.

8:30 AM – Wake up, have breakfast, and a cup of coffee.

10:00 AM – Arrive at the office and spend an hour reserved for paper-reading.

11:00 AM – Coffee Break: A quick social break (but I try to resist extra cup of coffee).

11:30 AM – Focus: Work on data analysis or writing.

1:00 PM – Lunch: Eat with the group, followed by another coffee.

2:00 PM – Focus: Continue data processing and research tasks.

3:00 PM – Catch up with my supervisors to review data and discuss recent results.

4:30 PM – Coffee Break: Stretch, and resist yet another coffee.

5:00 PM – Head out for gym or badminton.

7:00 PM – Grocery shopping, cooking dinner, and relaxing.

What do you like best about working in the group?

The best part about the group is that everyone is full of love and support! We all share a passion for nitride materials (naturally!), but beyond the research, there's a strong culture of helping one another. Whenever you hit a roadblock, reaching out to colleagues usually leads to a quick solution.

In addition, the group hosts plenty of super fun social events! We enjoy cakes together every Wednesday morning, and every few months, we have a "Social Friday" where we play board games, go punting on the river, or organize group outings. We even have an annual Christmas potluck. Before joining the group, I could never have imagined having so many great activities. The whole group truly feels like a family.

Where do you see nitrides in future?

Nitride is not just the future and we’re actively building the future! In particular, I believe AlGaN will be a key driver for next-generation optoelectronics and power devices. Its ultra-wide, tuneable bandgap enables breakthroughs in deep-UV LEDs and high-breakdown-voltage transistors, paving the way for cleaner water, advanced sterilisation, and far more efficient power systems.