7 June 2011

RFMD’s GaN1 technology now also qualified for 65V operation

RF Micro Devices Inc of Greensboro, NC, USA says that it has qualified its GaN1 power semiconductor process technology for 65V operation.

The high-reliability power semiconductor process technology supports RFMD’s GaN-based power semiconductor product designs and is also available to foundry customers through the firm’s Foundry Services business unit.

Previously, RFMD’s GaN1 power semiconductor process technology had been qualified for 48V operation. The increase in operating voltage from 48V to 65V enables miniature, 0.5kW power devices with high operating efficiency for L- and S-band military and civilian radar applications.

“The qualification of our 65V GaN1 power process technology enables RFMD to target multiple higher-voltage market opportunities across MPG’s diversified markets while helping our foundry customers to design smaller-periphery die for high-power applications,” says Bob Van Buskirk, president of RFMD’s Multi-Market Products Group (MPG). “RFMD continues to optimize our game-changing GaN process technology for both foundry customers and proprietary RFMD product designs, with particular emphasis on higher peak efficiency, lower power consumption and higher linearity,” he adds. 

The 48V GaN1 process technology is established in the high-power semiconductor industry, and the 65V GaN1 process technology raises the performance level. The 65V GaN1 process demonstrates a mean-time-to-failure (MTTF) of 43 million hours with a channel temperature of 200ºC at power densities of 10W (an industry performance benchmark, it is claimed). The high-reliability power semiconductor process is suited to higher-voltage operations in next-generation military, radar, and public/defense mobile radio applications.

RFMD is showcasing its foundry services offerings in booth 1402 at the IEEE international Microwave Symposium (IMS 2011) in Baltimore, MD, USA (6–8 June).

Tags: RFMD GaN GaN power semiconductor

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