GaAs
Gallium arsenide · GaAs
Gallium arsenide is a widely used semiconductor material valued for its high electron mobility and efficiency in high-frequency electronic and optical devices.
About Gallium arsenide
Gallium arsenide is a quintessential III-V semiconductor that occupies a central role in modern solid-state physics. As a thermodynamically stable compound, it serves as a foundational material for high-speed electronic devices and light-emitting technologies due to its favorable electronic properties.
Its utility stems from its ability to facilitate rapid electron transport, making it superior to traditional silicon in specific high-frequency applications. With a vast body of structural data available, it remains one of the most thoroughly characterized and reliable materials in the semiconductor industry.
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for Gallium arsenide, aggregated across 3 databases.
Band GapEnergy needed to move an electron from the valence band to the conduction band. Lower or zero values tend to behave more metallic; larger gaps are more insulating or semiconducting.
Energy Above HullThermodynamic distance from the most stable set of competing phases. 0 eV/atom is on the convex hull; small positive values may still be experimentally accessible.
StabilityA plain-language summary of the best reported energy-above-hull result. It reflects whether the lowest-energy structure is on, near, or far from the stability hull.
StructuresCount of reported calculated crystal structures for this formula, including alternate polymorphs, source databases, and observed space groups.
Cross-Source DFT Agreement
How well independent DFT databases agree on the thermodynamics of GaAs. Tight agreement means computed properties can be trusted without re-running calculations.
Agreement ScoreA normalized confidence score summarizing how closely independent DFT databases agree. Higher scores mean tighter cross-source agreement.
Hull SpreadDifference between the highest and lowest energy-above-hull values reported by comparable sources. Smaller spread means less thermodynamic disagreement.
Sources ComparedNumber and names of computational sources with comparable entries for this formula.
Space Group ConsensusWhether independent sources predict the same crystal symmetry for the lowest-energy structure.
Reported Structures
Lowest-energy structures reported for GaAs, ranked by energy above hull.
| Space GroupSymmetry classification of the crystal arrangement. The number is the international space-group index. | Crystal SystemBroad lattice family, such as cubic, tetragonal, monoclinic, or triclinic, derived from unit-cell symmetry. | Band Gap (eV)Electronic gap calculated for this specific reported structure, measured in electronvolts. | E above hull (eV/atom)Thermodynamic distance from the convex hull for this structure, normalized per atom. Lower is generally more stable. | E/atom (eV)Computed total energy normalized per atom. Use energy above hull, not this value alone, when comparing stability. | Density (g/cm³)Mass per relaxed crystal volume, reported in grams per cubic centimeter. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 0.57 | 0.0000 | -0.353 | — |
| F-43m (No. 216) | cubic | 0.18 | 0.0000 | -13.521 | 5.05 |
| F-43m (No. 216) | cubic | 0.09 | 0.0000 | -0.335 | — |
| P63mc (No. 186) | hexagonal | 0.19 | 0.0055 | -13.516 | 5.28 |
| — | — | 0.50 | 0.0121 | -0.341 | — |
| P63mc (No. 186) | hexagonal | 0.10 | 0.0139 | -0.321 | — |
| Pa-3 (No. 205) | cubic | 0.00 | 0.1162 | -0.218 | — |
| Pa-3 (No. 205) | cubic | 0.00 | 0.1440 | -13.377 | 5.48 |
| — | — | 0.16 | 0.1451 | -0.208 | — |
| — | — | 0.00 | 0.3239 | -0.029 | — |
| — | — | 0.00 | 0.3463 | -0.007 | — |
| Imm2 (No. 44) | orthorhombic | 0.00 | 0.3481 | -13.173 | 6.20 |
Applications
Where Gallium arsenide is used.
Patent Landscape
18 patents reference GaAs or close compositional variants.
| Patent | Title | Assignee | Granted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12302542 | Method of producing large EMI shielded GaAs infrared windows | — | — |
| 11017913 | Crystal and substrate of conductive GaAs, and method for forming the same | — | — |
| 5817179 | GaAs anneal boat design and method for use | — | — |
| 5834379 | Process for synthesis of cubic GaN on GaAs using NH.sub.3 in an RF plasma process | — | — |
| 11955251 | Crystal and substrate of conductive GaAs, and method for forming the same | — | — |
| 5464664 | Downstream ammonia plasma passivation of GaAs | — | — |
| 5384151 | InGaAsP/GaAs diode laser | — | — |
| 5389396 | InGaAsP/GaAs diode laser | — | — |
| 5821171 | Article comprising a gallium layer on a GaAs-based semiconductor, and method of making the article | — | — |
| 12084791 | Method of producing large EMI shielded GaAs and GaP infrared windows | — | — |
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Gallium arsenide, answered from cross-validated data.
What is GaAs?
Gallium arsenide is a widely used semiconductor material valued for its high electron mobility and efficiency in high-frequency electronic and optical devices.
What is GaAs used for?
What is the band gap of GaAs?
Is GaAs a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
Is GaAs thermodynamically stable?
What is the crystal structure of GaAs?
What is the density of GaAs?
How many polymorphs of GaAs are known?
What elements does GaAs contain?
Where does the data for GaAs come from?
Related Research
A band gap sets whether a solid is a metal, semiconductor or insulator. Learn direct vs indirect gaps, how gaps are measured, and why DFT underestimates them.
How the Materials Project, OQMD, AFLOW and JARVIS-DFT differ in size, DFT functional, license and access, why their values disagree, and when to use each.
How It Compares
Within the iii-v semiconductors class.
Within the family of III-V semiconductors, GaAs is distinguished by its balanced performance profile compared to siblings like AlAs or GaP. While materials such as GaN offer different advantages in power handling and wide-gap performance, GaAs remains the industry standard for high-frequency communication and efficient optoelectronic integration.
Related Compounds
Other III-V Semiconductors in the database.
Data sources & attribution
- oqmd — Data from the OQMD (oqmd.org). Cite: Saal et al., JOM 65, 1501 (2013); Kirklin et al., npj Comp. Mater. 1, 15010 (2015). (CC-BY-4.0)
- materials_project — Data from the Materials Project (materialsproject.org). Cite: Jain et al., APL Materials 1, 011002 (2013). (CC-BY-4.0)
- jarvis — Data from JARVIS (jarvis.nist.gov), NIST. Cite: Choudhary et al., npj Comp. Mater. 6, 173 (2020). (LicenseRef-US-Gov-PD)
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