European collaborators eye GaN RFIC production
European collaborators have begun the second phase of a project that should lead to the continent s first volume production of GaN-based chips for RF applications.
Co-ordinated by the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid-State Physics (IAF) in Freiburg, Germany, the project collaborators include United Monolithic Semiconductors (UMS) and NXP Semiconductors "“ formerly Philips Semiconductors.
The three parties have been collaborating on GaN since September 2006, but the focus will now switch to refining the technology for future volume production at UMS s facility in Ulm, Germany.
A spokesman for Fraunhofer IAF said that improvements in the reliability and linearity of the GaN-based devices was still required before volume production could start.
NXP is largely focused on silicon technologies, and maintains that it is committed to silicon LDMOS as the key semiconductor process for cellular base station amplifier applications. It sees GaN as a technology for the medium-term future:
"We are developing GaN as a way of investing in the future of next-generation connected consumer products," said the former Philips operation.
"Today s base station power amplifiers are limited to specific applications. With GaN technology, operators will be able to use a universal transmitter switch between systems and frequencies, to meet instantaneous demands in areas covered by the base station."
While NXP believes that using GaN will ultimately deliver significant cost reductions in system manufacturing, the high cost of the III-V material has always been a problem area.
Nevertheless, NXP expects to bring out a GaN-based power amplifier (PA) product within the next three years, with so-called switch-mode PAs set to follow.
The UMS technology roadmap includes GaN, with qualification of a 0.5 µm process expected in 2008, and volume production slated to start in 2009.
UMS carries out front-end fabrication of 4-inch GaAs wafers at its site in Ulm, which has a yearly capacity of around 10,000 wafer starts. Back-end production is focused at the company's sister site in Orsay, France.
