Wolfspeed, A Cree Company, announced that as of the end of 2015, it shipped GaN-on-SiC RF power transistors with a combined RF output power of more than 1.3 gigawatts.  Wolfspeed achieved this milestone while maintaining a failure-in-time rate (FIT rate) of 5-per-billion device hours, illustrating the industry-leading reliability and performance of Wolfspeed’s GaN-on-SiC devices.

“Wolfspeed’s achievement, exceeding 100 billion total hours of field operation for GaN-on-SiC devices, is the largest known body of fielded data accumulated by any domestic GaN supplier to date, and includes not only discrete transistors, but complex multi-stage GaN MMICs as well,” said Jim Milligan, RF and microwave director, Wolfspeed. “Our production numbers reflect the increasingly widespread adoption of GaN-on-SiC RF technology in military and aerospace systems, telecom base stations, wideband test equipment, civil radar, and medical applications."

For comparison, 1.3GW is the same power output as the energy required to power all of the LED street lights in Los Angeles for 22 years, or enough energy to power more than 124,900 U.S. residential homes for a year.  

Wolfspeed is a leading global supplier of GaN-on-SiC high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) and monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs). As the largest American producer of GaN-on-SiC RF wafer processing technology, Wolfspeed’s GaN HEMTs and MMICs enable enhanced innovation, performance, and efficiency across a broad spectrum of RF and microwave applications for both the commercial and military sectors. For more information about Wolfspeed’s RF components and foundry services, please visit wolfspeed.com/RF or contact Ryan Baker, RF marketing manager Wolfspeed, at ryan.baker@wolfspeed.com or 919-407-7816.