As the second generation semiconductor, gallium arsenide (GaAs) single crystal is known as "noble semiconductor" because of its high price. But why the cost of a GaAs solar cell is so expensive, let's diging in.
Gallium arsenide is internationally recognized as the most mature compound semiconductor material after silicon. It has the advantages of high frequency, high electron mobility, high output power, low noise and good linearity. It is one of the most important supporting materials for optoelectronics and microelectronics industry. The second generation semiconductor, represented by gallium arsenide, is widely used in the fields of high frequency, high speed, high power, low noise, high temperature resistance, radiation resistance and other integrated circuits. It has developed into the key technology of modern "electronic information products" and "information highway". The market of 5g chips is very good, and the products are in short supply. Gallium arsenide (GaAs) is an indispensable component for high-frequency communication of Optoelectronics and mobile phone Netcom.
In recent years, with the rapid growth of Internet of things (IOT), Internet of vehicles and AI (Artificial Intelligence) applications, countries have accelerated the construction of 5g infrastructure. With the introduction of face recognition function into apple iPhone x, the demand for GaAs VCSEL and high-level communication components has increased greatly. In the face of big business opportunities in the GaAs industry, domestic and foreign GaAs and optoelectronic plants are all striving to enter
With the development of optoelectronic industry and automation, there is a great market demand for high brightness light emitting diodes, visible light lasers, near-infrared lasers, quantum well high-power lasers, etc., which are used for display devices such as LED, ranging, toys, bar code recognition, etc., as well as the use of GaAs based high-efficiency solar cells, The demand for low resistance and low dislocation GaAs industry is huge and urgent
This is mainly due to the scarcity of gallium and the high cost of extraction and refining. The estimated concentration in the crust is 17 parts per million, or 0.0017%, while the ultra rich silicon is 28%,so the cost of a GaAs cells is expensive.s