WIN announces next gen mmWave GaAs tech
Combines individually optimised pHEMTs to enable best-in-class PA and LNA performance on the same chip
Taiwanese compound semiconductor foundry WIN Semiconductors has announced the commercial release of its next generation integrated mmWave GaAs platform, PQG3-0C.
Targeting mmWave front ends, the PQG3-0C technology combines individually optimised E-mode low noise and D-mode power pHEMTs to enable best-in-class PA and LNA performance on the same chip.
The E-mode/D-mode pHEMTs have ƒt of 110GHz and 90GHz respectively, and both employ 0.15µm T-shaped gates fabricated by deep ultraviolet stepper technology. Deep UV photolithography is a proven, high volume manufacturing technique for short gate length devices and eliminates the throughput constraints of traditional electron-beam patterning. Offering two application-specific mmWave transistors with RF switches and ESD protection diodes, PQG3-0C supports a wide range of front-end functions with increased on-chip functionality.
Both E-mode and D-mode transistors can be used for mmWave amplification and operate at 4V. The D-mode pHEMT targets power amplifiers and provides over 0.6 watt/mm with 11dB linear gain and close to 50 percent power added efficiency when measured at 29GHz. The E-mode pHEMT operates best as a single supply LNA and delivers minimum noise figure below 0.7dB at 30GHz with 8dB associated gain, and third order output intercept (OIP3) of 26dBm.
The PQG3-0C platform is manufactured on 150mm GaAs substrates and provides two interconnect metal layers with low-k dielectric crossovers, PN-junction diodes for compact ESD protection circuits, and RF switch transistors. With a final chip thickness of 100µm, a backside ground plane with through-wafer-vias (TWV) are standard and can be configured as through-chip RF transitions to eliminate the adverse impact of bond wires at mmwave frequencies. PQG3-0C also supports flip-chip packaging and can be delivered with Cu-pillar bumps fabricated in WIN’s internal bumping line.
WIN Semiconductors will be showing its compound semiconductor RF and mmWave solutions at the 2023 International Microwave Symposium being held at the San Diego Convention Center, June 11th through June 16th.
