Growth of InP and GaAs substrate crystals by the vertical gradient freeze method

VGF crystal growth is rapidly gaining ground as a manufacturing method for both GaAs and InP. Its position in GaAs is well established and it is expected to grow further in importance with increased uptake of epitaxial processing for microwave electronics. Utilisation in InP is, so far, less widespread, with greater challenges in single crystal yield. The general trend towards larger substrate diameters provides further opportunities to take advantage of the lower crystal defect density offered by the technique.