The gallium-arsenide cells use low-cost lenses to concentrate sunlight on tiny cells.

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The company was formed by three former Analog Devices engineers to replace silicon in semiconductors with a low-power gallium arsenide concoction that TRW once used to pass reams of top-secret data through satellites.

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He noted that Michigan uses gallium arsenide multi-junction photovoltaic cells on their car.

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Using a micron-thick layer of gallium arsenide, it can get flexible solar cells that are 29 percent efficient, nearly double commodity silicon cells.

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With its 95% share of the world market for gallium arsenide semiconductors, Japan makes the brains for high-speed fiber-optic telecommunication switches as well as the chips that steer Tomahawk missiles.

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With its patented InGaP-Plus (Indium Gallium Phosphide) technology, Anadigics may have leapfrogged over its AlGaAs (Aluminum Gallium Arsenide) competitors by enabling some 20% to 25% longer cell phone battery life.

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The other, which faces a specialised type of solar cell made of a material called indium gallium arsenide, is sculpted into a structure called a photonic crystal that causes it to emit infra-red radiation selectively at the frequency best absorbed by the cell.

ECONOMIST: Solar power