State of the Compound Semiconductor Industry

Compound Semiconductors are everywhere, behind many of the devices and services that we take for granted in this technology age. No longer are they only exotic devices for complex military systems. Today, they are the unsung heroes of the wireless revolution; handling the complex RF interfaces between lowerfrequency silicon operating systems. In high-volume applications, such as cellular phones, compound semiconductors like GaAs have demonstrated that they are a mature technology, capable of exceptional yields and reliability. Yet other compound semiconductors, such as InP and GaN are still at the early stages of their development, and only just beginning to reveal their potential. These are exciting times for the compound semiconductor industry. Hundreds of millions of devices are manufactured for consumer applications each year and the range of applications continues to expand. This paper attempts to give a short overview of where we have been and where we are going; the compounds and products that are important today, and those that will be in the future. The focus is on communications and radar.