Piezoelectric semiconductors such as GaAs are of interest for signal processing devices due to the possibility of monolithic integration of surface‐acoustic‐wave (SAW) ‐based devices and active electronic circuits on the same substrate. The common crystal orientation of GaAs for these applications has been the {100} cut. In this paper the characteristics of surface wave propagation in the {110} plane of GaAs, which supports both the Rayleigh and the Bleustein–Gulyaev surface wave modes, are investigated. Several test devices have been fabricated and studied using laser probe andS‐parameter measurement techniques. The SAW velocity, attenuation, piezoelectric coupling constant, slowness surface, beam profile, and the transducer characteristics have been measured, and the experimental results agree well with the theoretical calculations for both types of the surface wave modes.