RFMD Introduces Portfolio of 48V High Power GaN Transistors
HONOLULU, HI, JUNE 14, 2007 (IEEE MTT-S) - RF Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: RFMD), a global leader in the design and manufacture of high-performance radio systems and solutions for applications that drive mobile communications, today announced the introduction of the RF393X family of 48V gallium nitride (GaN) power transistors. The RF393X product family offers power performance from 10W to 120W and very wide tunable bandwidth--demonstrating the superior combination of high power and bandwidth offered by RFMD's GaN technology versus competing GaAs and silicon LDMOS technologies. Click Photo for High-Res Image RFMD's RF393X product family is comprised of five 48V GaN unmatched power transistors, each of which deliver gain in the range of 14dB to 16dB and high peak drain efficiency of greater than 65 percent at 2.1GHz. The superior performance characteristics of RFMD's GaN power transistors make them ideal for wideband, high efficiency power amplifier applications, such as broadcast television, wireless infrastructure, high power radar, aerospace and avionics. RFMD estimates the total addressable market for GaN high power semiconductors is approximately $1 billion, of which the market for GaN unmatched power transistors is approximately $150 million. The Company is engaged with top-tier customers in multiple markets and expects to commence production in the second half of calendar 2007. Bob Bruggeworth, RFMD President and CEO, said, "RFMD is positioned to capture significant market share in the $1 billion high power semiconductor market. We enjoy unparalleled customer relationships in the wireless semiconductor industry, we are an industry leader in compound semiconductor manufacturing, and we are the world's leading manufacturer of cellular power amplifiers. We are leveraging these core competencies as we expand our GaN product portfolio to drive new growth opportunities in multiple high-growth markets." RFMD is developing three families of high voltage GaN products. In addition to GaN power transistors, the Company is developing high power GaN RF integrated circuits (RFICs) and high power GaN matched transistors. The high power GaN RFICs are fully matched high power amplifiers that deliver high efficiency over multiple octaves of bandwidth and are suitable for applications such as military communications, public mobile radio and software definable radios (SDRs). The high power GaN matched transistors include internal matching elements to improve impedance and efficiency and are suitable for applications such as high power radar and infrastructure for WCDMA and WiMAX.