Technical Insight
TRW InP chip in orbit around the Earth (GaAs News)
An InP chip designed and produced by TRW is being flown on a scientific research satellite. Fabricated at TRW s 4 inch InP manufacturing facility in Redondo Beach, California, the MMIC low noise amplifier (LNA) circuit is part of a broadband radiometer being used by the Odin-1 science satellite. The device, a 3-stage HEMT operating in the 114124 GHz range, offers a noise figure of less than 4.5 dB and gain of 14 dB. This enables the radiometer to detect very faint radiation emitted by interstallar oxygen, which could lead to greater insight into the formation and evolution of galaxies (see ).
