Abstract

Multifunctional properties of semi-insulating GaAs type crystals could be essentially expanded under special boundary conditions. These crystals partial strain limitation makes possible to obtain electrical response on such external scalar influence as hydrodynamic pressure or temperature change. This gives rise to a new generation of microelectronic one-crystal sensors in which transducers, amplifiers and read-out electronics are various parts of the same crystal. In these devices, semi-insulating wafer itself is employed as matrix of sensor elements while amplifiers and other micro-electronics are no more than very thin semiconductor epitaxial layers.