GaN transistors, power amplifiers debut at IMS
San Francisco, CA. Qorvo at IMS 2016 highlighted several new products and features. The company debuted six new 50-V GaN transistors and said that its QPD1000 15-W GaN on SiC wideband input-matched transistor has completed stringent environmental testing. The company also debuted three new GaN power amplifiers optimized for use in military radar, communications, and electronic warfare systems.
GaN 50-V transistors
Qorvo’s six new 50-V GaN transistors are designed to optimize power performance for commercial and defense radar, communications, and avionics systems.
Roger Hall, Qorvo’s general manager of Defense & Aerospace Products, said, “This new family of 50V GaN transistors improves system performance by offering more power gain and power-added efficiency. Qorvo can better enable defense equipment, such as phased array radars, to deliver higher performance while managing size, cost and power.”
Qorvo’s new family of 50-V GaN transistors offers operational and system cost savings from greater system-level efficiency. The small device size and higher impedance input/output leads help optimize board designs for radar, communications, avionics, wideband amplifiers, and test instrumentation.
The QPD1009 and QPD1010 are now available in low-cost 3 x 3-mm plastic QFN packages, while the QPD1008(L) and QPD1015(L) are now available in industry-standard, thermally enhanced NI-360 air cavity ceramic packages, in eared and earless versions. This family of GaN transistors operates from 10 W up to 125 W power levels.
GaN transistor passes stringent environmental tests
Qorvo also announced that its QPD1000 15-W GaN on SiC wideband input-matched transistor has completed stringent environmental testing, demonstrating its reliability for use in defense and emergency-response communications equipment.
Hall said, “Qorvo has experience applying GaN technology to handheld communications equipment, like wideband handheld radios for first responders, with products that must operate reliably in challenging environmental conditions. Qorvo’s QPD1000 recently passed JEDEC’s JESD22- A110D Highly Accelerated Temperature/Humidity Stress Test (HAST), proving its reliability in harsh environmental conditions, including severe temperature, humidity and bias.”
HAST measures a device at 130°C, 85% relative humidity, and high atmospheric pressure for a minimum of 96 hours. Additional testing is ongoing, demonstrating the QDP1000’s ability to exceed the industry standard test.
The QPD1000 wideband input-matched GaN transistor is offered in a low-cost, space-saving surface-mount plastic DFN package and operates at 30 to 1,215 MHz. With an integrated wideband input-matching network, the QPD1000 enables wideband gain and power performance along with high efficiency. The output can be matched on the board to optimize power and efficiency for any region within the band. Qorvo’s QDP1000 can be used in continuous wave and pulsed signals for defense and public safety communications applications.
GaN PAs for radar and EW
The company also debuted three new gallium nitride (GaN) power amplifiers (PAs), saying the devices achieve industry-leading power, power added efficiency (PAE), and gain. Qorvo said the newest GaN PAs are optimized for use in military radar, communications, and electronic warfare systems, and include the following devices:
- TGM2635-CP—X-band 100-W MMIC amplifier for satellite communications, data links, and radar applications;
- TGA2307-SM—C-band 50-W MMIC amplifier for radar applications, in low-cost plastic packaging; and
- TGA2963—20-W MMIC amplifier for wideband communication platforms, radar systems, electronic warfare, and test instrumentation.
Hall said, “Defense and commercial customers recognize Qorvo for world-class performance and the most reliable and robust GaN on SiC solutions in the industry. Qorvo’s newest GaN PAs improve performance and reduce size and cost for defense radar, communications, and EW systems by offering a combination of power, PAE, and gain that is unmatched over their respective frequency bands.”
The TGM2635-CP X-band MMIC amplifier operates from 7.9 to 11 GHz and provides 50 dBm of saturated output power, with 22.5 dB of large signal gain and 35% PAE. Available in a pure copper-base, bolt-down package, the TGM2635-CP offers superior thermal management for added system flexibility.
The TGA2307-SM C-band MMIC amplifier produces more than 47 dBm of saturated output power with a PAE greater than 44% and a large signal gain greater than 20 dB. Packaged in a 6-mm x 6-mm plastic overmold package, the TGA2307-SM provides industry leading size, weight and power (SWAP) benefits for C-band radar applications.
The TGA2963 wideband MMIC amplifier operates from 6 to 18 GHz and provides more than 43-dBm saturated output power. With PAE of more than 20%, the TGA2963 also has a large-signal gain of more than 20 dB.