BEAM Technologies and the JAXA Space Exploration Innovation Hub Center began joint research on August 31, 2026, on the crystal growth of gallium antimonide (GaSb), a III-V compound semiconductor. Using the Gradient Heating Furnace (GHF) in the Japanese Experiment Module “Kibo” aboard the ISS, the team will grow GaSb seed crystals in microgravity and compare them with Earth-grown crystals to quantitatively evaluate how suppressing thermal convection affects dislocation density and crystal quality. The findings will be applied to terrestrial manufacturing processes to establish high-quality compound semiconductor substrate technology for advanced devices in fields such as space and defense.
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