Gallium Arsenide vs. Cadmium Telluride
Both gallium arsenide and cadmium telluride are non-glass optical ceramics.
For each property being compared, the top bar is gallium arsenide and the bottom bar is cadmium telluride.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 85 | |
| 45 |
| Knoop Hardness | 750 | |
| 45 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.31 | |
| 0.41 |
Thermal Properties
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 1400 | |
| 1090 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 360 | |
| 210 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 47 | |
| 5.0 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 5.6 | |
| 5.9 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Density, g/cm3 | 5.3 | |
| 5.9 |
| Light Transmission Range, µm | 1.0 to 16 | |
| 1.0 to 25 |
| Refractive Index | 3.4 | |
| 2.6 |
Common Calculations
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 8.9 | |
| 4.3 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 28 | |
| 20 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 25 | |
| 4.1 |