News: Microelectronics
31 January 2020
Qorvo launches highest-performance wideband GaN power amplifier for mission-critical defense applications
Qorvo Inc of Greensboro, NC, USA (which provides core technologies and RF solutions for mobile, infrastructure and defense applications) has introduced what it claims is the highest-performance wideband power amplifier (PA).
Designed for electronic warfare, radar and test instrumentation applications, the TGA2962 (available now as a die to qualified customers) is fabricated using Qorvo’s gallium nitride (GaN) QGaN15 process technology, and provides 10W of RF power over the 2-20GHz frequency range, 13dB large-signal gain and 20-35% power-added efficiency (PAE). This combination delivers the flexibility that system designers need to improve system performance and reliability while reducing component count, footprint and cost, reckons the firm.
“Qorvo has taken a significant step forward in the wideband space with the TGA2962, enhancing not just frequency range but every other performance aspect,” says Roger Hall, general manager of Qorvo’s High Performance Solutions business. “No other company offers a single PA with this output power, bandwidth, power-added-efficiency and large-signal gain,” he claims.
In addition, improved component integration – and use of a smaller driver amplifier enabled by the 13dB large-signal gain – result in a smaller device, benefitting programs that require size, weight, power and cost (SWAP-C) improvements.
“The defense market, primarily radar and communications applications, is seeing strong growth from new systems and major platform upgrades,” comments Eric Higham, director of the Advanced Semiconductor Applications service and the Advanced Defense Systems service for market research firm Strategy Analytics. “This is also providing fuel for the GaN growth engine and should bode well for companies like Qorvo.”
