News

23 February 2010

 

RFMD secures $3.2m R&D contracts to further develop GaN-based microelectronics

RF Micro Devices (RFMD) Inc of Greensboro, NC, USA has been awarded $3.2m in R&D contracts by the United States Department of Defense, relating to gallium nitride (GaN) microelectronics, including materials, device fabrication and high power circuits.

RFMD says that the new contracts extend its contract backlog for calendar 2010 to approximately $5m. Since calendar 2004, RFMD has been awarded approximately $13m in R&D contracts by the United States Government.

Jeff Shealy, VP and general manager of RFMD's Defense and Power business unit, said: "GaN technology is superior to other semiconductor process technologies in power per square millimeter, bandwidth and breakdown voltages, and the unique physical properties of RFMD's GaN technology deliver industry-leading reliability performance."  

Bob Bruggeworth, president and CEO of RFMD, added: "Given the superior performance characteristics of RFMD's GaN technology, we expect it to be a disruptive technology across a broad range of defense applications, including radar, communications and electronic warfare. RFMD's state-of-the-art GaN technology is also applicable to a growing number of commercial applications, such as public mobile radio, 3G/4G base stations, CATV line amplifiers, as well as exciting new applications in high performance RF lighting.

"Importantly, RFMD's GaN technology is manufactured in the same high-volume manufacturing facility as our industry-leading GaAs products, providing RFMD a measurable competitive advantage and enabling further improvement in RFMD's return on invested capital (ROIC)."

See related item:

RFMD ships its first GaN product to achieve full production qualification

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