During MACOM’s earnings call yesterday, Harsh Kumar, an analyst with Piper Jaffray, asked CEO Steve Daly for an update on the status of MACOM’s GaN on Si technology.

Calling it “a significant technology development,” Daly reiterated MACOM’s commitment to GaN on Si and said the program is on schedule.

Specifications for the production process at partner STMicroelectronics are being polished, and production equipment is “moving towards ST.” He said MACOM is working with ST on schedules and recently reviewed the pricing for high volume production, which he called “very productive.”

“We today still believe that GaN on Si is the right process for massive MIMO, given the volumes, given the price points and given the low power levels,” Daly said.

GaN on SiC Too

He added that MACOM is also committed to developing products using GaN on SiC, particularly for higher power, higher frequency, military and satellite applications.

Saying this is “opening up the aperture slightly,” he said the power amplifier engineering team is characterizing external GaN on SiC processes — from 0.5 to 0.1 μm — to establish a baseline of industry capabilities.

“We want our power amplifier group to be able to have access to the best technologies.”

Listen to Daly’s full response to the question: