Gallium Arsenide Wafers
Epitaxial wafers made from gallium arsenide, a compound semiconductor used in lasers, LEDs, solar cells and radio-frequency chips.
Covered in 1 MetalsCost.com News Intelligence article, most recently on August 25, 2026.
Overview
Gallium arsenide wafers are single-crystal substrates made from a compound of gallium and arsenic rather than silicon, chosen wherever a chip needs to switch or emit light faster than silicon allows. GaAs electrons move with much higher mobility than silicon's, and because it's a direct-bandgap material it can emit light efficiently — a property silicon, an indirect-bandgap material, simply doesn't have.
Who Consumes It
Smartphone and telecom hardware makers are major buyers, since GaAs RF power amplifiers and switches handle a large share of the radio-frequency components in mobile handsets and satellite communication equipment, a demand base that's grown further with 5G rollout. GaAs also underlies most high-brightness LEDs and semiconductor lasers, and in multi-junction form it's the substrate of choice for space-grade solar cells.
Sources
- GaAs wafer market size projections — GaAs Wafer Market to Hit US$3.0 Billion by 2033 as 5G and RF Applications Drive 11.5% CAGR (2026)
