For years Cominco has been producing wafers of gallium arsenide used in the ma nufacture of specialized semi-conductor components and circuits. Now the company has received a shot in the arm from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council to further develop new techniques to monitor quality control of the w afers.
The nserc has given Simon Fraser University physics professor Michael Thewalt a 3-year, $410,300 grant for the work, and Cominco is adding $251,800 in materia ls and other assistance. The object of the work will be to examine the ratio and concentration of various impurities in the crystals in order to predict whether they will have a negative effect on device performance. Cominco produces the gallium arsenide crystals as byproducts of its zin c and lead smelting operation s at Trail, B.C. The crystals are grown using a process involving high pressure and temperatures. The finished crystals, measuring about one foot in length and four inches in diameter, are sliced into wafers, polished and then sold.
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