Development of Compound Semiconductor Devices— In Search of Immense Possibilities —

Many different compound semiconductors can be formed by changing the combination of constituent elements. Properties of alloy semiconductors composed of a plurality of compound semiconductors can be changed in a continuous fashion by changing the composition ratio. A very thin alloy semiconductor multilayer showing interesting properties can be formed by sophisticated epitaxial growth methods such as MOVPE (metal organic vapor phase epitaxy) or MBE (molecular beam epitaxy). Based on these matters, innumerable compound semiconductor devices with a variety of functions and characteristics have been developed. This is a magnificent feature and great magnetism unique to compound semiconductors and not found in silicon semiconductors. Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. has been developing various kinds of compound semiconductor materials for about half a century, and is the world’s largest manufacturer of compound semiconductors. The Company has been supplying GaAs and InP substrates and their epitaxial wafers to the consumer and communications markets as its leading compound semiconductor products, and recently succeeded in developing GaN substrates for blue-violet lasers that are being used in new optical disk systems. As to compound semiconductor devices, a large number of optical and electron devices have been developed and commercialized for power and communications markets. This paper describes the past quarter century’s history of developing various kinds of optical and electron devices, focusing mainly on Sumitomo Electric’s research and development activities. 2. Compound Semiconductors