First shipment of RFMD's GaN product underway
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RF Micro Devices has qualified and released its first gallium nitride (GaN) unmatched transistor optimised for high power and defence applications.
The RF3931 is RFMD's first GaN product to achieve full product qualification, a process through which rf products are released by the company for mass production. Shipments have now commenced to a number of high power amplifier manufacturers.
RFMD's president and ceo, Bob Bruggeworth (pictured), said he expected the GaN process technology to play a central role the company's commitment to rf components into multiple industries. He explained: "The unique physical properties of RFMD's GaN technology deliver performance that is unattainable by current competing technologies. Also, RFMD's GaN technology is manufactured in the same high volume manufacturing facility as our industry leading GaAs products, providing RFMD a measurable competitive advantage. Accordingly, we believe our GaN technology will become a disruptive technology across a broad range of commercial and defence markets."
The 30W RF3931 is part of a family of five GaN power transistors to be released for mass production over the next two quarters. Ranging from 10 to 120W, the wide bandwidth transistors have been designed to enable the development of high efficiency HPAs for a broad range of applications, including cellular and WiMAX infrastructure, CATV, military communications, public mobile radio, radar and radar jammers.
