M/A-COM Technology Solutions Inc of Lowell, MA, USA (which makes semiconductors, components and subassemblies for analog RF, microwave, millimeter-wave and photonic applications) has announced that the MAGX-100027-100C0P, a wideband transistor optimized for DC-2.7GHz operation and fabricated using its proprietary fourth-generation gallium nitride-on-silicon (GaN on Si) process, is now sampling. The GaN-on-Si HEMT D-Mode transistor is suitable for defense communications, land mobile radio, avionics, wireless infrastructure, ISM (industrial, scientific & medical) applications and VHF/UHF/L/S-band radar applications.
The MAGX-100027-100C0P supports CW, pulsed, and linear operation with output power levels up to 100W (50dBm). Featuring 50V operation, the device offers 18.3dB gain at 2.45GHz and 70% drain efficiency for CW operation, and 18.4dB gain at 2.7GHz and 71% drain efficiency for pulsed operation. The 100% RF-tested transistor is available in an industry-standard plastic package with bolt-down flange.
MACOM claims that its 4th-generation GaN (Gen4 GaN) technology delivers performance that is claimed to rival expensive GaN on silicon carbide (GaN on SiC) at a projected volume production cost structure below that of incumbent LDMOS technology. Gen4 GaN delivers greater than 70% peak efficiency and 19dB gain for modulated signals at 2.7GHz, which is similar to GaN-on-SiC technologies, and more than 10 percentage points greater efficiency than LDMOS. It also delivers power density that is more than four times that of LDMOS.
"The MAGX-100027-100C0P is an ideal candidate for customers looking to support rugged applications," reckons Says product manager Gary Lopes. "Gen4 GaN products extend the innovation and commercialization trajectories of earlier generations of GaN-on-Si, which have demonstrated clear, field-proven reliability in harsh environmental conditions for more than five years."
