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Technical Insight

Cree's GaN devices launched into space (Nitride News)

GaN microwave devices manufactured by Cree have been installed aboard the International Space Station following the launch of the space shuttle Discovery (see ). Cree, which is based in Durham, North Carolina, supplied GaN epitaxial materials and GaN HEMTs on SiC substrates, which were added to the Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) to determine their radiation hardness for future satellite applications. The experiment is the result of a joint collaboration between Cree and the Sensors Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratories (AFRL), under a Dual Use Science and Technology program funded by the Department of Defense and Cree. The objective of MISSE is to develop wide bandgap semiconductors for microwave technology that can operate under extreme conditions such as a crowded or hostile electromagnetic spectrum, as well as within the constraints of mass, volume or prime power imposed by space environments. The radiation experiment was mounted onto the outside of the space station s airlock during the first space walk of the mission, and will be retrieved on a future shuttle mission for test and evaluation back on earth. "We are excited about the rapid progress achieved for GaN microwave devices, and are anxious to determine their applicability to satellite communications and other space-based applications as a result of this experiment," said Thomas Jenkins of AFRL s Sensors Directorate. Wide bandgap materials hold considerable promise for power applications in extreme conditions. Cree has previously reported total power for GaN microwave devices of 50 W at 10 GHz, and also demonstrated the first GaN MMICs grown on the company s semi-insulating SiC substrates. The latter devices have recently achieved 24 W of pulsed RF output power at 16 GHz, or about three times the highest RF output power of GaAs MMICs available at this frequency range.
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