GaN Gurus to Gather at CS Vision to Plot Future of WBG Electronics
Jo Ann McDonald, founding editorJune 6, 2007...While the dialog determining the role of wide bandgap (WBG) materials in future
radio frequency (RF) electronic applications has been going on for some time,
with TriQuint recently reporting commercializable levels of reliability for
GaN-based devices, the discourse now takes the dialog up a serious notch. Consequently,
key WBG technology leaders and GaN advocates, including Anthony Balistreri of
TriQuint, Laura Rea of Wright Labs, Ivan Eliashevich of IQE-RF, executive technology
management consultant, Craig Farley, and other GaN "gurus" will be
gathering June 19-20 at Compound
Semi Vision 2007 in Austin to candidly discuss the next feasible step needed
for the CS industry to truly commercialize GaN electronics.
All of the above are speakers at the upcoming CS Vision meet. Tony Balistreri
is R&D manager and program manager for TriQuint's DARPA WBGS RF Gallium
Nitride Program. TriQuint is the prime on that critical program that pits TQ's
team against the Northrop Grumman and Raytheon teams. Ivan Eliashevich is R&D
director at IQE-RF in Somerset, New Jersey (the former Emcore foundry, run originally
by former Emcore VP, Craig Farley) and is the epiwafer foundry supplying the
GaN to TQ. Laura Rea of Wright Labs works closely with all the team players
helping oversee the DARPA project as well as other CS material related programs.
Overall, the three teams divvy up basically all the major WBG materials and
electronic device players in the compound semi industry. (Ref: editorial
coverage, TriQuint's
news, NG's
news and Raytheon's
news.
Of the three teams in this lucrative initiative, TriQuint has the strongest
reputation for sharing information, and... quite honestly, it's been awhile
since a public progress report has been obtainable. The CS Vision executive
business forum will provide a rare opportunity for a candid evaluation and update
of this key defense/industry program. Also taking part in the GaN discussions
at Vision will be CS Vision co-chair, Keith Evans of Kyma and Hank Rodeen, Strategies
Unlimited's lead GaN materials market researcher, both of whom will also be
speaking. Representatives from the other two DARPA WBGS RF teams and other interested
parties in the future of GaN electronics are heartily encourage to attend and
take part in the discussions at CS Vision. Visit the CS Vision site, www.CompoundSemiVision.com
for more information, plus bios and picture of each of the speakers. This unique,
annual CS executive business forum will be held June 19-20 at the Hyatt Regency
Hotel in downtown Austin.
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UCSB and IQE Produce Record Breaking HBT
CompoundSemi News StaffJune 6, 2007...IQE of Cardiff, UK, announced that its InP-DHBT materials had been fabricated
through the use of the Nanofabrication facility at the University of California
at Santa Barbara (UCSB), to produce world record results of 780 GHz power-gain
cut-off frequencies (fmax), simultaneous with 424 GHz current-gain cut-off frequencies
f(t) for mesa HBTs. IQE has collaborated with Professor Rodwell’s group
at UCSB with its InP materials for his and several other projects. The company says the devices employ a graded base-collector junction,
where a record f(t) x device breakdown BVceo (5.6V) = 2.39 THz*Volt is demonstrated
as well. IQE said that the material for the InP-based double-heterojunction
bipolar transistor (DHBT) device was produced at its Pennsylvania manufacturing
facility on InP wafers using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE).
Steve Gergar, General Manager of IQE’s Pennsylvania operation commented,
“IQE is very pleased to have contributed the epitaxial material upon
which UCSB has achieved these exciting InP-DHBT high speed results. We have
collaborated extensively with Professor Rodwell’s group for nearly a decade,
where many record InP-DHBTs results have been demonstrated over the years. Additionally,
we are particularly pleased with the success of these latest results as it shows
how both sides have benefited immensely from the interaction. These results
affirm IQE’s strength in advanced materials and structures, beyond the
typical high quality SHBT and DHBTs we have in standard production. This also
confirms our commitment to the R&D community, and we look forward to continued
successful collaborations with UCSB and other research groups in the years to
come.” IQE
News Release June 6, 2007...UQM, a developer of high efficiency electric motors and electric motor controllers
headquartered in Frederick, Colorado USA, has been awarded $750,000 more as
part of a Phase II Small Business Innovative Research contract to advance the
development of a silicon carbide electric motor controller. According to the
company, the two year project will focus on improving the power density and
packaging of previous generations of silicon carbide power modules developed
in other Air Force programs. As part of the project, the company will convert
a conventional pickup truck to all-electric pickup truck. Then the results of
the tests will be compared with the test results of the previous generation
of electric pickup testbeds which use earlier versions of silicon carbide modules.
Jon Lutz, UQM Technologies' Director of Engineering said, "This project
creates another opportunity to showcase our 160 horsepower propulsion system
and advance the commercial prospects of silicon carbide power modules by reducing
their size and improving power density. Improvements in power density and packaging
are important attributes in reducing the production cost of the modules and
their potential to achieve commercial success." Company
News Release Toshiba American Electric Introduces First GaN HEMTJune 6, 2007...Toshiba American Electric has introduced its first gallium nitride (GaN) HEMT
for radar and medical applications at the International Microwave Symposium
in Honolulu, Hawaii USA. The company and its parent company, Toshiba Corp. reported
the release of its first commercially available GaN high electron mobility transistor.
The X-band device, the TGI8596-50 is an internally matched GaN HEMT power amplifier.
It operates in the 8.5GHz to 9.6GHz range with output power of 50W. The device
features a three-dB compression point of 47.5dBm(1) (typ.), linear gain of 9.0dB(1)
(typ.), and drain current of 4.5 Amps(1) (typ.). Targeted applications for this
device include radar systems and medical applications, such as use in oncology.
"GaN HEMT amplifiers have the potential to achieve significantly higher
gain and output power than GaAs FETs at comparable frequency and input power,"
said Homayoun Ghani, business development manager, Microwave, Logic and Small
Signal Devices, in TAEC's Discrete Business Unit. "As a follow-on to
this initial device, Toshiba is also developing C- and Ku-band GaN HEMTs for
satellite communications applications." Company
News Release RF Micro Adds GaAs pHEMT Low Noise Amplifier Family
CompoundSemi News StaffJune 6, 2007...RF Micro Devices has released the RF386X family of gallium arsenide (GaAs)
pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor (pHEMT) low-noise amplifiers
(LNAs). They operate from 700MHz to 3800MHz, and according to the company, they
provide an ideal combination of low noise and high linearity performance. The
new broadband LNAs are ideally suited for wireless networks, including cellular,
WLAN and WiMAX infrastructure. The RF386X family of LNAs is designed for first
stage low noise and linear driver amplification targeting CDMA, PCS, DCS, UMTS,
WLAN and WiMAX applications. The LNAs are come in single stage, dual stage and
dual channel configurations. The company says that each LNA is internally matched
with minimal external biasing, thereby simplifying design requirements and accelerating
time-to-market. Each RF386X LNA is in a low-cost, industry-standard QFN package.
Jeff Shealy, vice president of RFMD’s infrastructure product group, said,
“Our new RF386X family of LNAs covers multiple octaves in frequency while
delivering excellent noise performance and linearity, resulting in a single
component which delivers enhanced signal quality to the customer for multiple
radio applications. Our competitive broadband solutions have resulted in design
wins worldwide for applications across multiple growth markets.”
Company
News Release Sirenza Microdevices Expands Capacity at Facility in Nuremburg, Germany
CompoundSemi News StaffJune 4, 2007...Sirenza Microdevices, an RF component maker with headquarters in Bloomfield,
Colorado USA, announced that it has expanded its manufacturing capacity at its
facility in Nuremburg, Germany. The company said that the expansion is to support
the growing demand for cable TV and for RF power amplifier modules. According
to Sirenza, the expansion increased the facility’s surface mount assembly
capabilities by about 25 percent, and it raised the facility’s electrical
test capacity by up to 50 percent with the addition of high-speed surface-mount
and aluminum wire bonding equipment. Also the facility’s test capacity
was expanded when the company implemented more RF-amplifier test stations required
to test 1 GHz CATV amplifiers.
“This expansion is in response to the growing demand for Sirenza’s
1GHz CATV amplifiers and for other applications such as RF-driven light sources
for commercial video and TV applications,” stated Jerry Quinnell,
PDI segment interim president. “In addition to our broad portfolio
of 1GHz CATV forward and return path amplifiers, we currently market a complete
family of CATV amplifiers in all the required frequency bands to support world-wide
transmission network standards; additionally we currently market optical receivers
for CATV applications up to 1GHz frequency.” Company
News Release Researchers Predict Indium will Run-Out in l0 Years or Less
CompoundSemi News StaffJune 4, 2007...Unlike silicon, the elements used in compound semiconductors and printed circuit
applications are not virtually unlimited. For this reason, a company called,
IDTechEx, Augsberg University in Germany, and the journal, New Scientist, have
studied the availability of several rare earth elements used in printed circuits.
They have estimated how soon our supplies of them will run out. They predict
that in a mere 5 years or up to 10 years at most, the supply of indium will
be gone. Armin Reller, a materials chemist at the University of Augsberg in
Germany, notes that in January 2003 the price of the metal was about $60 per
kilogram, but by August 2006 had rocketed to over $1000 per kilogram. He said
that the current prices may have already begun to reflect the impending scarcity.
Researchers at the journal, New Scientist, did their own calculations of scarcity,
and they were most concerned about the massive demand for indium gallium arsenide
(InGaAs), and copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) solar cells. Reserves
of both metals are disputed, but in a recent report René Kleijn, a chemist
at Leiden University in the Netherlands, concludes that with current reserves
he estimates that “gallium and indium will probably contribute to
less than 1 per cent of all future solar cells - a limitation imposed purely
by a lack of raw material." On the other hand, IDTechEx says that
InGaZnO transistors will have a relatively insignificant roll in the future
scarcity of the materials because of the extremely small amounts required. New
Scientist News Release TriQuint Introduces Two Single Chip Sat-Com HPAs
CompoundSemi News StaffJune 5, 2007...TriQuint has introduced two new satellite communications (Sat-Com) high power
amplifiers (HPAs) in a single chip design. According to TriQuint, the new die-level
products, TGA4916 and TGA4906, are reportedly the latest of the company’s
ground terminal sat-com RF amplifiers. The PAs boast better performance, a smaller
footprint, and improved cost effectiveness for the design of sat-com ground
terminal RF chipsets. The RF amplifiers are typically used for data connectivity
for ATMs, supermarkets / retail outlets, hotels, airlines, car rental agencies
– practically anywhere that digital information needs to be exchanged
wirelessly at high speed. TriQuint says that the high power amplifiers, which
are gallium arsenide MMICs, were developed as part of the company’s program
to drive the evolution of VSAT (very small aperture terminal) components for
ground station RF systems. Company
News Release Tellabs Renews Triplexer Transceiver Order with LumientOIC
CompoundSemi News StaffJune 4, 2007...LuminentOIC, an optical component manufacturer of Chatsworth, California USA,
reported that it renewed its supply agreement to supply triplexer transceivers
to Tellabs for use in broadband passive optical Network (BPON) through the end
of 2008. Tellabs has reportedly used the triplexer transceivers in optical network
terminals (OPTs) for fiber to the premise deployments since 2004. "To
remain competitive and meet customer demand, we must forge long-term relationships
with key suppliers," said John Brots, Tellabs executive vice president
for global operations. "LuminentOIC has been an innovative supplier
with demonstrated ability to provide us with critical components for next-generation
applications."
Near Margalit, Chief Executive Officer of LuminentOIC, stated, "We
are pleased to continue our long lasting relationship with Tellabs, a recognized
industry leader in triple-play PON deployments, and are committed to providing
highly reliable, complex technologies to mass volume deployments for current
and next-generation PON requirements.” LumientOIC
News Release GCS and RFIC Solutions Announce Strategic Alliance
CompoundSemi News StaffMay 31, 2007...Global Communication Semiconductors and RFIC Solutions have announced a strategic
alliance to provide customers with a range of services from product design to
finished parts. Global Communication Semiconductors (GCS), a III-V foundry service
provider for RF and optoelectronic components, will combine its portfolio of
foundry technologies including HBT, PHEMT, and InP with RFIC Solutions’
expertise. RFIC Solutions, a third party intellectual property and design service
provider, will offer its IP and expertise in RFIC and MMIC products made using
GaAs, PHEMT, Silicon and SiGe, CMOS and BiCMOS processes.
"We are pleased to partner with GCS since we have designed many of
our IP blocks using GCS' GaAs HBT and other processes. We are designing power
amplifiers, LNA, mixers, synthesizers, and transceivers for cellular, WiFi,
WiMax, UWB, and Cable TV markets. Many of these markets require advanced GaAs
and PHEMT processes that GCS offers. By partnering with GCS we offer one-stop
shop, high performance, low cost RFIC and module design services,"
said Sanjay Moghe, President and CEO. GCS
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