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Nitronex agrees GaN transistor deal for WiMAX

The GaN-on-silicon specialist is accepting pre-production orders for its wide-bandgap transistors, and already has a Korean customer ready to deploy the technology in power amplifier modules.

Nitronex, the Raleigh, NC, company developing GaN-based power transistors, has released its first commercial products.

The first family of GaN-on-silicon devices comprises 10 W and 50 W power transistors targeted at broadband wireless access infrastructure. The Nitronex transistors support WiMAX applications operating in the 2.5 GHz and 3.5 GHz frequency bands.

Officially released at European Microwave Week, being held in Paris, France, the power transistors represent the very first commercial products to be manufactured using the company's "SIGANTIC" GaN-on-silicon platform.

"The release of these products marks an important milestone in the semiconductor industry," said Chris Rauh, the company's VP of sales and marketing. "We are proud of this "˜first-of-its-kind' accomplishment."

Crucially, Nitronex already has a customer signed up and ready to deploy the devices. Korea's RFHIC Company plans to use the 50 W version, known as the NPT35050, in a forthcoming line of high-power modules aimed at WiMAX and other applications.

"We need to deliver 10 W of average power to meet our customer's latest needs," said David Cho from RFHIC. "We believe that GaN-based RF power transistors from Nitronex are key to a number of [our] markets."

A number of other customers are thought to be evaluating the Nitronex devices currently, while further products in the family are set to be introduced in the near future. These will include transistors operating at the higher frequency of 5.8 GHz and are planned for introduction next year.

With sample kits now available for $950, Nitronex says that initial shipments of the NPT35050 part will begin shortly. All four of its GaN-on-silicon products are expected to be released to production in March 2006.

Manufacturing the GaN devices on 4-inch silicon wafers allows Nitronex to use standard packaging, test and assembly equipment, resulting in faster qualifications and lowering overall device cost.

• Delegates at this year s Key Conference can find out more about the GaN-on-silicon power transistors developed by Nitronex in a presentation by Kevin Linthicum, the company s CTO.

That talk is part of a technical session on wide-bandgap semiconductors for wireless applications. Other companies represented in the session include Eudyna Devices, HRL Microelectronics and Lockheed-Martin Radar Systems.

Check the Key Conference program for further details.

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