...20W X-band GaN power amplifier MMIC (monolithic microwave integrated circuits) for use in long range RF telecommunications. Since 2005, Nitronex has won 16 government contract awards that have funded the development of materials, devices, discretes, MMICs, and process technologies, as well as manufacturing maturation. This is the third X- or Ka-band contract awarded to Nitronex, further enhancing Nitronex’s state-of-the-art GaN-on-Si power amplifier technology.
GaN has much higher power density than incumbent gallium arsenide (GaAs) technologies, allowing MMIC designers to achieve higher output power and higher system efficiency. This allows system engineers to increase transmit power and reduce associated thermal and power management overhead, lowering size, weight, and power consumption (SWAP). Nitronex’s GaN-on-Si technology has several performance advantages over competing GaN-on-SiC offerings. GaN-on-Si HEMTs have industry-leading thermal performance using 2mil thick substrates, which have very low thru-wafer source inductance. GaN-on-SiC-based HEMTs have optimum thermal performance with substrates around 4mil thick, resulting in higher thru-wafer source inductance, reducing amplifier gain. Silicon substrates can use thermally superior gold-silicon (AuSi) die rather than other methods required by non-Si substrates.
Nitronex uses industry standard ultra-low loss semi-insulating Si substrates having 0.05dB/mm loss at 10GHz for a 50ohm transmission line, similar to that of GaAs, which is used to frequencies significantly higher than even Ka band. Reuse of the Si industry’s mature supply chain results in manufacturing and cost advantages versus SiC-based technology.
