Chipping in with gallium

INDIA has achieved a major break-through in the production of gallium atthe National Aluminium Refinery,Damanjodi, Orissa, with the setting upof a pilot plant to produce 1,000 kg ofgallium per year. India has thus becomea potential source of this strategic rawmaterial for the world's semiconductorindustry.

A handful of chipmakers are strikingit rich by producing many new electronic products. Gallium arsenide(GaAs), a semiconductor inaterial, isinherently much faster than silicon.Long considered a technology in searchof a home, GaAs found eager customersamong military and aerospace companies. These companies were willing topay double or mote to bypass silicon'sspeed limits in microwave communication and radar. As the Cold Warended, supercomputer companiesrealised that GaAs chips could speed uptheir next generation computers. Tocounter this, Intel Corp reduced theprices of silicon microprocessors so much that it was cheaper to boost speedwith multiple silicon chips instead.

GaAs is now finding its way intocivilian communications. As a result,the gallium arsenide business is the keyelement in the semiconductor industry.GaAs' resurgence stems from an ever-expanding range of applications.Ericsson's latest cellular phones haveGaAs chips to boost performance.Scientific'-Atlanta Inc, a leading producerof cable- TVgear in the us, recently intro-duced a system that harnesses GaAs toadd 50 channels. GaAs' speed mightthus even be the key to digital TV in thefuture. The demand for GaAs is projectedto soar further as telecom companieslaunch new wireless services. Beginningthis year, the market for GaAs shouldstart growing at 50-60 per cent a year.

The cost of putting up a GaAs manufacturing facility is also much less than that of a silicon chip plant: GaAs plantsare much smaller than the billion-dollarsprawling facilities that produce siliconchips.

The advantage that GaAs has alwaysenjoyed is speed, as it is five times fasterthan silicon. It also has a higher signal-to-noise ratio. That means cell phonescan wander farther from their basestations. As GaAs chips consume lesspower, wireless models can either beused with smaller batteries or offerlonger battery life.

To handle the surge in traffic inwireless phones, cell phone frequenciesare being raised from 900 megahertz to1.9 gigahertz in tomorrow's so-calledpersonal communication services. Atthose frequencies, GaAs is essentially theonly choice.