Technical Insight
Microsemi ships InGaP HBT amplifiers for WCDMA handsets (GaAs News)
Microsemi (Irvine, CA) has shipped its first InGaP HBT power amplifiers for WCDMA handset applications. The company introduced its first GaAs PA product late in 2000. Initial prototype shipments of the new WCDMA PAs are expected to total less than $1 million in the company s FY2001, and volume production is slated for January 2002. The MWS11PH41 is a flip-chip bonded InGaP HBT IC offered in bare die, with external I/O matching in a 3 3 mm2 chip-scale package. A 6 6 mm2 matched module will be released later this summer. The device is an optimized two-stage design that achieves a PAE of 41% and an idle current of 38 mA; both are key factors affecting battery size and talk time.
