Critical Minerals in Semiconductors
Advanced chip fabrication, compound semiconductor wafers, power electronics, fiber optic networks, and display manufacturing all depend on minerals with concentrated and geopolitically sensitive supply chains.
Chips are built from critical minerals, not just designs.
A disruption to gallium or germanium supply affects far more than one industry. Gallium arsenide chips are used in 5G base stations, military radar, satellite communications, and automotive lidar. Germanium-doped fiber optics carry the majority of global internet traffic. Silicon wafers underpin every logic and memory device.
Advanced chip fabs also consume hafnium for gate dielectrics, tantalum for interconnect barriers, and ultra-pure chemicals derived from fluorite, phosphorus, and boron — all classified as critical or strategic materials by major jurisdictions.
Semiconductor Minerals
Semiconductor minerals under trade restrictions.
Since August 2023, China has imposed export licensing on gallium and germanium — covering 8 gallium items and 6 germanium items. These minerals are upstream inputs for compound semiconductor substrates, IR optics, and fiber optic preforms used across defense, telecom, and automotive supply chains.
Downstream effects include higher substrate costs, longer lead times for GaAs and germanium wafers, and accelerated investment in non-Chinese gallium recovery from aluminum refining circuits.