Gallium nitride (GaN) offers significant advantages in power electronics due to its high electron mobility, high saturation drift velocity, and low relative permittivity, which enable faster switching speeds and lower conduction losses compared to silicon (Si). These properties position GaN as a strong contender against the traditional dominance of Si in the power electronics market, leading to the potential for smaller, lighter, and more efficient power systems. Currently, GaN is predominantly utilized in lateral, unipolar switching applications, particularly in high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs). However, its implementation in vertical, bipolar switching devices has been limited due to two main challenges: the short minority carrier lifetime, typically around 1 ns, and the difficulty in achieving large-area devices with buried p -type material. Recent advances, such as minority carrier recombination lifetime control through quantum well-induced charge segregation and improved annealing techniques for buried p -type layers in oxygenated environments, have begun to address these challenges. As a result, the development of vertical GaN devices, including thyristors, insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs), and current-aperture vertical electron transistors (CAVETs), is becoming more feasible. These innovations could significantly expand the potential of GaN in power electronics to include high power pulsed applications as these challenges are overcome. In this work, we describe our efforts to address the challenges of bipolar device development in a III-nitride system. Specifically, the short minority carrier lifetime is being addressed through the use of the quantum-confined Stark effect (QCSE). We demonstrate the ability to “tune” the minority carrier lifetime based on the materials’ inherent polarization properties. Numerical simulations utilizing a Schrödinger-Poisson solver were conducted to predict carrier lifetimes in GaN quantum wells with varying widths, clad with Al .04 Ga .96 N barriers. These predict that the radiative lifetime increases up to three orders of magnitude in the GaN layers as a function of well width and the free carrier concentration. The maximum lifetime was found at a well width of approximately 30 nm, and the lifetime gradually approached the bulk lifetime value of 1 ns at larger well widths. To validate the simulation results, time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) measurements were performed on samples of varying well widths and excitation power densities. The TRPL experimental values agreed well with the numerical solution. The longest recorded carrier lifetime was approximately 500 ns for a 40 nm well width, demonstrating the significant potential of QCSE to extend carrier lifetimes in GaN. A parallel effort to address the challenge of activating buried p -type material has been underway. Due to H + binding to the accepter dopant Mg - during metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) growth, the acceptor species is passivated and must be activated by diffusing out the H + . This happens due to three processes: dissociation, diffusion, and desorption. We report on recent advancements annealing in reactive ambients to achieve a higher rate of activation through desorption and thus more uniform and conductive buried p -GaN. This is demonstrated using an oxygen-rich diffusion tube containing N 2 :O 2 =4:1 at 800 °C for 30 minutes, resulting in a fully activated 100 µm-diameter buried pn junction. Additionally, fluorinated annealing ambients are being investigated. We have fabricated full thyristor structures with both p - and n -type drift regions. We will discuss the electrical characterization and a mixed-mode TCAD model that has been developed to inform the gate drive characteristics in the context of predicting performance. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-mission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA0003525. This paper describes objective technical results and analysis. Any subjective views or opinions that might be expressed in the paper do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Department of Energy of the United States Government.