Gallium Nitride: A Promising Technology for Fully Integrated Transceiver Front-End

Gallium Nitride (GaN) has become a promising technology to realize a fully integrated transceiver chain in a single technology. GaN semiconductor technology offers performance advantages for radar, electronic warfare and communications systems. Advances in frequency response (ft > 65GHz), power density (>4W/mm) and noise figure (<2dB) have resulted in a 5–10× increase in output power (PA) and power handling capabilities over competing semiconductor technologies. Additionally, advantages in size, weight, cost, and soft failure mode make GaN circuits desirable for EW applications, especially in mobile field deployment. Furthermore, GaN is tolerant of ionizing radiation, making this technology attractive for satellite transponders and other space applications. The workshop will go over examples of MMIC designs to include power amplifiers, low noise amplifiers, TR switches, and other circuit blocks in GaN foundry processes, as well as their design, testing and measurement. Additionally, the workshop will emphasize the importance of accurate device model extraction for successful design implementation. Finally, we will present the performance of an integrated GaN transceiver.