Progress in gallium arsenide semiconductors
- IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, NY (USA)
After almost 30 years as the technology of the future, gallium arsenide has begun to make a place for itself, not by supplanting silicon but by complementing it in new applications. The inherent advantages of the material lie in the speed with which electrons move through it, in weak-signal operations and in the generation and detection of light. These advantages suit it for roles in computing, television reception and the optoelectronic transmission of data through optical-fiber networks. Gallium arsenide light-emitting diodes and lasers used in visual-display technologies and audio-disk players already account for more than $1 billion in sales annually. Hundreds of thousands of satellite-receiving dishes that use gallium arsenide detectors are sold every year, and high-speed circuits using gallium arsenide transistors are projected to reach a similar turnover in a few years. In an economy and society that depend on the rapid exchange of information as well as on the processing of it, many silicon-dominated processors will require a considerable admixture of gallium arsenide components in order to do their jobs.
- OSTI ID:
- 6825684
- Journal Information:
- Scientific American; (USA), Journal Name: Scientific American; (USA) Vol. 262:2; ISSN SCAMA; ISSN 0036-8733
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Gallium arsenide
A FETISH for gallium arsenide
Related Subjects
360600* -- Other Materials
ANNEALING
ARSENIC COMPOUNDS
ARSENIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
COMPUTERS
DEFECTS
DIGITAL COMPUTERS
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELECTRON MOBILITY
ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE
ELEMENTS
FABRICATION
FIBERS
GALLIUM ARSENIDES
GALLIUM COMPOUNDS
HEAT TREATMENTS
HETEROJUNCTIONS
HOLES
INFRARED RADIATION
JUNCTIONS
MATERIALS
MOBILITY
NEAR INFRARED RADIATION
OPTICAL FIBERS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
P-TYPE CONDUCTORS
PARTICLE MOBILITY
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PNICTIDES
RADIATIONS
RECOMBINATION
SEMICONDUCTOR JUNCTIONS
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
SEMIMETALS
SILICON
SUPERCOMPUTERS
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT
USES