TriQuint Awarded DARPA Contract Valued At $16.5M For GaN Program
TriQuint Semiconductor , a leading RF products manufacturer and foundry services provider, recently announced that it has been awarded leadership of Phase III of a multi-year gallium nitride (GaN) research and development contract by the Army Research Laboratory (ARL). The contract, funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), was awarded based on TriQuint surpassing Phase II goals. The overall program is designed to develop new high power, wideband GaN amplifiers for a range of defense applications.
TriQuint began execution of the Phase II gallium nitride program (valued at $15.8 million) in 2005 and has achieved major milestones including improved power density, efficiency and device ruggedness. The next phase of the program (valued at $16.5M) seeks to extend device reliability for 48V operation while increasing operational lifetime and extending performance to cover the high end of contracted frequency ranges. This phase is expected to be completed in two years. The ARL in Adelphi, MD is the contracting agency (W911QX-05-C-0087).
TriQuint has been a leader in gallium nitride research for both defense and civilian applications since 1999. In addition to its military design and manufacturing work, TriQuint has released gallium nitride amplifiers for wireless communications and a wide range of other applications along with offering commercial GaN foundry services beginning in 2008.
"TriQuint is very excited to continue its leadership of a highly qualified team in the development of this technology. In Phase II, we developed a high performance, reliable gallium nitride process with excellent reproducibility and high yield," said Cathy Lee, TriQuint's Phase III program manager. "Since the program began we have achieved key milestones including 48V operation and superb high frequency performance."
Gallium nitride remains one of the key process technologies expected to lead next-generation amplifier semiconductor design due to its inherent properties including high voltage operation, greater power density (more power per square millimeter) and efficiency. The development of GaN-based devices is leading to new generations of smaller, more efficient amplifiers that reduce system size, weight and power consumption.
TriQuint is the prime Phase III contractor and is teamed with BAE Systems, IQE-RF Corporation and Lockheed Martin. II-VI Incorporated remains the program's primary supplier of high quality SiC substrates. University partners Dr. Michael Shur of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Dr. Jesus del Alamo of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology continue their roles in device physics, reliability and modeling. Key program tasks include material optimization, device and MMIC development. The contract emphasizes reliability, yield, uniformity and reproducibility. The program also includes a MMIC validation process.
TriQuint is a leading manufacturer of high-performance, high-reliability integrated circuits for communications and radar programs with broad applications across defense and aerospace systems. TriQuint also serves consumer wireless markets such as mobile phones, wireless LAN and GPS. TriQuint's expertise in gallium arsenide, high-voltage GaAs pHEMT, gallium nitride (GaN), surface acoustic and bulk acoustic wave (SAW / BAW), low-cost packaged devices and monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) has made the company a leading supplier of RF system components to Boeing Company, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and other major defense contractors.
For more information about TriQuint products for defense, aerospace and other major markets, visit www.triquint.com. Register for product updates and our newsletter at: www.triquint.com/rf.
About TriQuint
Founded in 1985, we "Connect the Digital World to the Global Network"™ by supplying high-performance RF modules, components and foundry services to the world's leading communications companies. Specifically, TriQuint supplies products to four out of the top five mobile phone manufacturers, and is a leading gallium arsenide (GaAs) supplier to major defense and space contractors. TriQuint creates standard and custom products using advanced processes that include gallium arsenide, surface acoustic wave (SAW) and bulk acoustic wave (BAW) technologies to serve diverse markets including wireless handsets, laptops, GPS/PND, base stations, broadband communications and military. TriQuint is also the lead researcher in a multi-year DARPA program to develop advanced gallium nitride (GaN) amplifiers. TriQuint, as named by Strategy Analytics1, is the number-three worldwide leader in GaAs devices and the world's largest commercial GaAs foundry. 1 Announced February 2009 and May 2009, respectively.
SOURCE: TriQuint Semiconductor