GaAs
Gallium arsenide · GaAs
Gallium arsenide is a semiconductor material composed of gallium and arsenic. It is widely utilized in high-frequency electronics and optoelectronics due to its superior electron mobility and ability to emit light efficiently.
Overview
Key Properties
Cross-validated computational properties for Gallium arsenide, aggregated across 4 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.
0.22 eV
Range across DFT structures
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.
0.000 eV/atom
Best (lowest) across sources
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.
On hull (stable)
2 DFT sources
StructuresCount of reported calculated crystal structures for this formula, including alternate polymorphs, source databases, and observed space groups.
71
4 databases, 18 space groups
Crystallography
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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F-43m (No. 216) | cubic | 0.19 | 0.0000 | -13.521 | 5.05 |
| P63mc (No. 186) | hexagonal | 0.22 | 0.0055 | -13.516 | 5.28 |
| Pa-3 (No. 205) | cubic | 0.00 | 0.1440 | -13.377 | 5.48 |
| Imm2 (No. 44) | orthorhombic | 0.00 | 0.3481 | -13.173 | 6.20 |
| I-4m2 (No. 119) | tetragonal | 0.00 | 0.3527 | -13.169 | 6.21 |
| P1 (No. 1) | triclinic | 0.00 | 0.4098 | -13.112 | 5.08 |
| P1 (No. 1) | triclinic | 0.01 | 0.4105 | -13.111 | 4.98 |
| P1 (No. 1) | triclinic | 0.00 | 0.4125 | -13.109 | 5.04 |
| P4/mmm (No. 123) | tetragonal | 0.00 | 0.4235 | -13.098 | 5.96 |
| P1 (No. 1) | triclinic | 0.00 | 0.4281 | -13.093 | 5.12 |
| Pmm2 (No. 25) | orthorhombic | 0.00 | 0.4445 | -13.077 | 6.04 |
| P1 (No. 1) | triclinic | 0.00 | 0.4603 | -13.061 | 5.16 |
Uses
Applications
Where Gallium arsenide is used.
Integrated circuitsLight-emitting diodesSolar cellsLaser diodesRadio frequency devices
Reference
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Gallium arsenide, answered from cross-validated data.
What is GaAs?
Gallium arsenide is a semiconductor material composed of gallium and arsenic. It is widely utilized in high-frequency electronics and optoelectronics due to its superior electron mobility and ability to emit light efficiently.
More questions
What is GaAs used for?
Gallium arsenide (GaAs) is used in integrated circuits, light-emitting diodes, solar cells, laser diodes, and radio frequency devices.
What is the band gap of GaAs?
Gallium arsenide (GaAs) has a DFT-computed band gap of 0.22 eV across 71 reported structures.
Is GaAs a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
With a band gap up to 0.22 eV it is a semiconductor.
Is GaAs thermodynamically stable?
Yes — Gallium arsenide (GaAs) sits on the convex hull (energy above hull 0 eV/atom), i.e. on hull (stable).
What is the crystal structure of GaAs?
The lowest-energy reported polymorph of Gallium arsenide (GaAs) is cubic symmetry, space group F-43m (No. 216).
What is the density of GaAs?
The computed density of the ground-state structure of Gallium arsenide (GaAs) is 5.05 g/cm³.
How many polymorphs of GaAs are known?
71 structures of GaAs are reported across 4 databases, spanning 18 distinct space groups.
What elements does GaAs contain?
Gallium arsenide (GaAs) contains As and Ga (2 elements).
Where does the data for GaAs come from?
GaAs data is cross-referenced from materials_project, mpaloe, jarvis.
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Related Compounds
Other III-V Semiconductors in the database.
Data sources & attribution
- materials_project — Data from the Materials Project. Cite: Jain et al., APL Materials 1, 011002 (2013).
- mpaloe — Data from mpaloe.
- jarvis — Data from JARVIS (NIST). Cite: Choudhary et al., npj Comp. Mater. 6, 173 (2020).
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