MACOM and ST expanding 150mm GaN-on-Si production capacity, and 200mm as demand requires

MACOM Technology Solutions Inc of Lowell, MA, USA (which makes semiconductors, components and subassemblies for RF, microwave, millimeter-wave and lightwave applications) and STMicroelectronics of Geneva, Switzerland have announced the 2019 expansion of 150mm GaN-on-silicon production capacity in ST’s fabs (and 200mm as demand requires) to service the worldwide 5G telecom buildout. This builds on the broad GaN-on-Si agreement between MACOM and ST announced in February 2018.

The global rollout of 5G networks and move to massive multiple-input, multiple-output (M-MIMO) antenna configurations is expected to create a substantial increase in the demand for RF power products. Specifically, MACOM estimates there will be a 32-64x increase in the number of power amplifiers required, more than tripling the dollar content over a five-year cycle of 5G infrastructure investment and driving an estimated 10-20x decrease in the cost per amplifier.

“Major base-station OEMs understand they need wide-bandgap GaN performance with transformational cost structures and manufacturing capacity to meet 5G antenna cost, range and energy efficiency targets in the field,” says MACOM’s president & CEO John Croteau. “By teaming with ST, we believe MACOM is uniquely poised to provide it all — performance, cost and high-volume supply chain… Our joint investment at this early stage in bringing on more capacity positions us to service up to 85% of the global 5G network buildout,” he believes.

“ST has built a strong foundation as a global leader in silicon carbide and we are now moving forward with RF GaN-on-silicon, which will enable OEMs to build a new generation of high-performance 5G networks,” says Marco Monti, president of STMicroelectronics’ Automotive and Discrete Product Group. “While silicon carbide is ideal for certain power applications such as automotive power conversion, GaN-on-Si provides the necessary RF performance, scale and commercial cost structures to make 5G a reality,” he adds. “With this move ST and MACOM aim to unlock the industry bottleneck and fulfill the demand for 5G buildouts.”

See related items:

MACOM and ST to develop GaN-on-Si manufacturing for mainstream RF applications

Tags: M/A-COM STMicroelectronics GaN-on-Si

Visit: www.st.com

Visit: www.macom.com/gan