Second generation semiconductor materials

Rise time:

Since the 1990s, with the rapid development of mobile communication and the rise of information highways based on fiber optic communication and the Internet, second-generation semiconductor materials such as gallium arsenide and indium phosphide have emerged..

Representative materials:

The second generation semiconductor materials are compound semiconductors. For example, gallium arsenide (GaAs) and indium antimonide (InSb). Gallium aluminum arsenide. There are also some solid solution semiconductors, such as Ge Si, Ga As GaP. Glass semiconductors (also known as amorphous semiconductors), such as amorphous silicon and glassy oxide semiconductors. Organic semiconductors, such as phthalocyanine, copper phthalocyanine, polyacrylonitrile, etc.

Performance characteristics:

Take gallium arsenide as an example. Compared with the first generation of semiconductors, gallium arsenide has the characteristics of high frequency, radiation resistance, and high temperature resistance, making it widely used in mainstream commercial wireless communication, optical communication, as well as defense and military fields.

Historical significance:

The second generation semiconductor materials are mainly used for producing high-speed, high-frequency, high-power, and light-emitting electronic devices, and are excellent materials for producing high-performance microwave, millimeter wave devices, and light-emitting devices. Due to the rise of the information superhighway and the Internet, it is also widely used in fields such as satellite communication, mobile communication, optical communication, and GPS navigation. For example, compared to the first generation of semiconductors, gallium arsenide (GaAs) can be used in the optoelectronic field, especially in infrared lasers and high brightness red photodiodes.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, emerging electronic technologies such as smartphones, new energy vehicles, and robots have developed rapidly. At the same time, the global energy and environmental crisis is becoming increasingly prominent. The performance limitations of materials can no longer meet the needs of science and technology, which calls for the emergence of new materials to replace them.