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Gallium Scan universityhealth.org | Gallium cbi.pitt.edu | Cancer-Related Hypercalcemia With Gallium Nitrate... supportiveoncology.net | Testing: The Gallium Scan lymphomainfo.net |
Gallium arsenide (GaAs) is a compound of the elements gallium and arsenic. It is an important III/V semiconductor, and is used in the manufacture of devices such as microwave frequency integrated circuits, e.g., monolithic microwave integrated circuits, infrared light-emitting diodes, laser diodes, solar cells, and optical windows.
[edit] Preparation and chemistryIn the compound, gallium has a +3 oxidation state. Gallium arsenide can be prepared by direct reaction from the elements which is used in a number of industrial processes:[2]
Alternative methods for producing films of GaAs include:[2][3]
Wet etching of GaAs industrially uses an oxidizing agent, e.g., hydrogen peroxide or bromine water,[4] and the same strategy has been described in a patent relating to processing scrap components containing GaAs where the Ga3+ is complexed with a hydroxamic acid ("HA"), for example:[5]:
Oxidation of GaAs occurs in air and degrades performance of the semiconductor, the surface can be passivated by depositing a cubic gallium(II) sulfide layer using a tert-butyl gallium sulfide compound such as (tBuGaS)7.[6] [edit] Comparison with silicon[edit] GaAs advantagesGaAs has some electronic properties which are superior to those of silicon. It has a higher saturated electron velocity and higher electron mobility, allowing transistors made from it to function at frequencies in excess of 250 GHz. Unlike silicon cells, GaAs cells are relatively insensitive to heat. Also, GaAs devices generate less noise than silicon devices when operated at high frequencies. They can also be operated at higher power levels than the equivalent silicon device because they have higher breakdown voltages. These properties recommend GaAs circuitry in mobile phones, satellite communications, microwave point-to-point links, and some radar systems. It is used in the manufacture of Gunn diodes for generation of microwaves. Another advantage of GaAs is that it has a direct band gap, which means that it can be used to emit light efficiently. Silicon has an indirect bandgap and so is very poor at emitting light. Nonetheless, recent advances may make silicon LEDs and lasers possible. As a wide direct band gap material with high breakdown voltage, and resulting resistance to radiation damage, GaAs is an excellent material for optical windows in high power applications. One of the first GaAs microprocessors was developed in the early 1980s by the RCA corporation and was considered for the Star Wars program of the United States Department of Defense. Those processors were several times faster and several orders of magnitude more radiation hard than silicon counterparts, but they were rather expensive.[7] Other GaAs processors were implemented by the supercomputer vendors Cray Computer Corporation, Convex, and Alliant in an attempt to stay ahead of the ever-improving CMOS microprocessor. Cray eventually built one GaAs-based machine in the early 1990s, the Cray-3, but the effort was not adequately capitalized, and the company filed for bankruptcy in 1995. Complex layered structures of gallium arsenide in combination with aluminium arsenide (AlAs) or the alloy AlxGa1-xAs can be grown using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) or using metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE). Because GaAs and AlAs have almost the same lattice constant, the layers have very little induced strain, which allows them to be grown almost arbitrarily thick. [edit] Silicon advantagesSilicon has three major advantages over GaAs for integrated circuit manufacture. First, silicon is abundant and cheap to process. Si is highly abundant in the Earth's crust, in the form of silicate minerals. The economy of scale available to the silicon industry has also reduced the adoption of GaAs. The second major advantage of Si is the existence of silicon dioxide—one of the best insulators. Silicon dioxide can easily be incorporated onto silicon circuits, and such layers are adherent to the underlying Si. GaAs does not form a stable adherent insulating layer. The third, and perhaps most important, advantage of silicon is that it possesses a much higher hole mobility. This high mobility allows the fabrication of higher-speed P-channel field effect transistors, which are required for CMOS logic. Because they lack a fast CMOS structure, GaAs logic circuits have much higher power consumption, which has made them unable to compete with silicon logic circuits. Silicon has relatively low absorptivity for the sunlight meaning about 0.1 mm of Si is needed to absorb most sunlight. Such layer is relatively robust and easy to handle. On the contrary, the absorptivity of GaAs is so high that a corresponding layer would be only a few micrometers thick and mechanically unstable.[8] [edit] Other applications[edit] Solar cells and detectorsAnother important application of GaAs is for high efficiency solar cells. Gallium arsenide (GaAs) is also known as single-crystalline thin film and are high cost high efficiency solar cells. In 1970, the first GaAs heterostructure solar cells were created by the team led by Zhores Alferov in the USSR.[9][10][11] In the early 1980s, the efficiency of the best GaAs solar cells surpassed that of silicon solar cells, and in the 1990s GaAs solar cells took over from silicon as the cell type most commonly used for Photovoltaic arrays for satellite applications. Later, dual- and triple-junction solar cells based on GaAs with germanium and indium gallium phosphide layers were developed as the basis of a triple junction solar cell which held a record efficiency of over 32% and can operate also with light as concentrated as 2,000 suns. This kind of solar cell powers the rovers Spirit and Opportunity, which are exploring Mars' surface. Also many solar cars utilize GaAs in solar arrays. Complex designs of AlxGa1-xAs-GaAs devices can be sensitive to infrared radiation (QWIP). GaAs diodes can be used for the detection of X-rays.[12] [edit] Light emission devicesGaAs has been used to produce (near-infrared) laser diodes since 1962.[13] Single crystals of gallium arsenide can be manufactured by the Bridgeman technique, as the Czochralski process is difficult for this material due to its mechanical properties. However, an encapsulated Czochralski method is used to produce ultra-high purity GaAs for semi-insulators. GaAs is often used a substrate material for the epitaxial growth of other III-V semiconductors including: InGaAs and GaInNAs. [edit] SafetyThe toxicological properties of gallium arsenide have not been thoroughly investigated. On one hand, due to its arsenic content, it is considered highly toxic and carcinogenic. On the other hand, the crystal is stable enough that ingested pieces may be passed with negligible absorption by the body. When ground into very fine particles, such as in wafer-polishing processes, the high surface area enables more reaction with water releasing some arsine and/or dissolved arsenic. The environment, health and safety aspects of gallium arsenide sources (such as trimethylgallium and arsine) and industrial hygiene monitoring studies of metalorganic precursors have been reported.[14] California lists gallium arsenide as a carcinogen.[15] [edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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