Gallium Arsenide for Research and Production 

Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) Wafers for Advanced Semiconductor Applications

Gallium arsenide (GaAs) is a III-V compound semiconductor valued for its direct band gap, high electron mobility, and high-frequency performance. At room temperature, GaAs has a direct band gap of approximately 1.42 eV, allowing efficient absorption and emission of light. These properties make GaAs an important substrate and semiconductor material for RF and microwave electronics, photonics, optoelectronics, laser diodes, LEDs, photodetectors, and high-efficiency photovoltaic devices.

UniversityWafer supplies monocrystalline and polycrystalline GaAs wafers for research, device development, epitaxial growth, process development, and specialized production requirements. Available specifications can include different wafer diameters, crystal orientations, thicknesses, electrical properties, dopants, and surface finishes.

Why Use Gallium Arsenide?

GaAs offers several material properties that distinguish it from silicon for selected electronic and optoelectronic applications. Its direct band gap enables efficient light generation and absorption, while its relatively high electron mobility supports high-speed and high-frequency electronic devices.

GaAs also supports the growth of compound-semiconductor heterostructures used in devices such as HEMTs, HBTs, MMICs, semiconductor lasers, LEDs, and multijunction solar cells. Material selection should always be based on the device structure and required electrical, optical, crystallographic, and surface specifications.

Monocrystalline Gallium Arsenide Wafers

Monocrystalline GaAs consists of a continuous single-crystal lattice and is generally preferred when device performance depends strongly on crystallographic uniformity, carrier transport, epitaxial quality, or optical efficiency.

Depending on availability, GaAs substrates may be supplied as semi-insulating, n-type, p-type, or nominally undoped material. Common dopants can include silicon for n-type conductivity and zinc for p-type conductivity, while semi-insulating GaAs is commonly produced using compensation techniques to obtain high resistivity.

Common GaAs Crystal Orientations

GaAs wafers are commonly supplied in orientations such as (100), (110), and (111), including selected off-axis orientations. The appropriate orientation depends on the epitaxial process, surface chemistry, device architecture, and research requirements.

GaAs Surface Finishes

Available material may include as-cut, etched, lapped, or polished GaAs wafers. Polished surfaces are typically required when a smooth, low-defect surface is needed for epitaxial growth, lithography, thin-film deposition, or semiconductor device fabrication.

Monocrystalline Gallium Arsenide Inventory

The inventory below includes GaAs substrates with various diameters, thicknesses, orientations, electrical characteristics, dopants, and surface finishes. Inventory changes frequently, so please provide your required specifications for current availability and pricing.

When requesting a quote, include the desired diameter, orientation, thickness, conductivity type, resistivity or carrier concentration, dopant, surface finish, quantity, and application whenever possible.

Polycrystalline Gallium Arsenide Wafers

Polycrystalline gallium arsenide (poly-GaAs) is composed of multiple crystalline grains separated by grain boundaries. Those grain boundaries can introduce additional carrier scattering, trapping, and recombination compared with high-quality single-crystal GaAs.

Because of these effects, polycrystalline GaAs is generally not the preferred substrate for high-performance active devices that depend on very high carrier mobility or high-quality epitaxial interfaces. However, it can be useful for materials research, process development, thin-film studies, experimental devices, and applications where single-crystal substrate quality is not required.

GaAs Applications

RF and Microwave Electronics

Semi-insulating and conductive single-crystal GaAs substrates are widely used in high-frequency semiconductor technologies. GaAs-based device structures can be used in MMICs, HEMTs, MESFETs, HBTs, RF amplifiers, and microwave circuits. Its high electron mobility can support high-frequency operation, while semi-insulating substrates can help electrically isolate devices and circuit elements.

Photonics and Optoelectronics

Because GaAs has a direct band gap, it can efficiently participate in radiative electron-hole recombination. GaAs and related III-V heterostructures are therefore important in laser diodes, LEDs, optical emitters, photodetectors, and integrated photonic devices.

GaAs Solar Cells

Single-crystal GaAs is an important photovoltaic semiconductor because its direct band gap and strong optical absorption allow efficient solar-energy conversion using relatively thin active layers. GaAs is used in high-efficiency single-junction and multijunction solar-cell architectures, particularly where efficiency and power-to-weight ratio justify the higher material and fabrication costs.

Epitaxial Growth on GaAs

GaAs substrates are widely used for epitaxial growth of III-V semiconductor structures. Techniques such as molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy (MOVPE/MOCVD) can be used to create compound-semiconductor layers and heterostructures for electronic and optoelectronic devices.

Monocrystalline vs. Polycrystalline GaAs

The appropriate material depends on the application. Single-crystal GaAs is generally selected for active electronic and optoelectronic devices, while polycrystalline GaAs can be appropriate for selected research and process-development applications where grain boundaries are acceptable.

How to Specify a GaAs Wafer

When selecting a gallium arsenide wafer, consider the complete substrate specification rather than diameter alone. Important parameters can include:

• Crystal form: monocrystalline or polycrystalline
• Diameter: based on available inventory and process compatibility
• Crystal orientation: such as (100), (110), or (111)
• Off-cut: when required for a particular epitaxial or surface process
• Thickness: based on handling and process requirements
• Electrical type: n-type, p-type, semi-insulating, or nominally undoped
• Dopant: depending on the required electrical properties
• Resistivity or carrier concentration: when electrically specified
• Surface finish: as-cut, etched, lapped, or polished
• Quantity: research quantities through larger project requirements

Gallium Arsenide Wafers for Research and Device Development

UniversityWafer can help researchers and engineers source GaAs substrates for compound-semiconductor research, epitaxial growth, RF electronics, photonics, optoelectronics, photovoltaics, sensors, and materials characterization.

If your required specification is not shown in the inventory, send us your target diameter, orientation, thickness, electrical properties, surface finish, and quantity so we can check additional availability.