Using x‐ray diffraction and ellipsometry we have studied the incorporation process of SnTe in GaAs for n‐type doping. Combining these two techniques allows us to decide whether SnTe is incorporated pairwise, as has been proposed in the literature. We found SnTe doping to change theE1andE1+&Dgr;1critical point parameters in a way similar to that previously reported for n‐type Si‐doped GaAs. X‐ray diffraction and Hall measurements show that the free carrier concentration is more than 1/2 of the [Sn]+[Te] concentration. We thus conclude that a large proportion of SnTe is incorporated as independent Sn and Te dopant atoms. ©1995 American Institute of Physics.