MACOM Announces Fourth Generation GaN Technology
MACOM has announced its fourth generation of GaN on silicon technology, which it claims will deliver performance rivaling more expensive GaN on SiC at a volume costs below that of incumbent LDMOS technology.
According to the company, Gen4 GaN delivers greater than 70 percent peak efficiency and 19dB gain for modulated signals at 2.7GHz, which is similar to GaN on SiC technologies, and more than 10 percentage points greater efficiency than LDMOS.
Power density is said to be more than four times that of LDMOS. This performance is expected to yield GaN-based devices that are half the semiconductor cost per watt of comparable LDMOS products and significantly lower cost than comparably performing GaN on SiC wafers at volume production levels.
MACOM says that Gen4 GaN builds on the developments and track record of earlier generations of the technology, which have demonstrated field-proven reliability in harsh environmental conditions. To date, over one million devices have been operating for five years in demanding military applications in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Gen4 will unlock the full promise of GaN for mainstream commercial applications. We expect its impact on the rf and microwave industry will be transformative," said John Croteau, president and CEO, MACOM. "Our GaN IP portfolio and strategic licensing agreements set the foundation for a sustainable, cost-efficient technology and supply chain model enabling GaN production at unprecedented economies of scale. These breakthroughs position MACOM as the preeminent supplier of compound semiconductors for rf and microwave applications."
MACOM Gen4 GaN-based devices are expected to enter high volume production in 2016, and are sampling to customers today.
