In booth #1348 at the 2015 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium & Exhibition (IMS 2015) in Phoenix, Arizona (17-22 May), Microsemi Corp of Aliso Viejo, CA, USA (which designs and makes analog and RF devices, mixed-signal integrated circuits and subsystems for communications, defense & security, aerospace and industrial markets) is featuring 13 new products from its portfolio of radio-frequency, microwave and millimeter-wave integrated circuits, modules, monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) and subsystems. With a broad product offering spanning DC to 140GHz, the new devices are suitable for the defense, communications, instrumentation, industrial and aerospace industries.
The highly differentiated new products "cater to the shifting needs of our customer base, as well as the industry's growth forecasts in the defense, communications, instrumentation, industrial, and aerospace markets," says Norm Hildreth, VP & general manager of Microsemi's Discrete Products Group. "Microsemi offers RF, microwave, and millimeter-wave antenna-to-bits solutions with a progressive emphasis on high-performance semiconductor (CMOS, SiGe, GaAs, GaN and InP) and packaging technologies," he adds. "This has allowed us to work continuously with industry leaders in our target markets to solve complex engineering problems at the discrete, RFIC, MMIC, module and subsystem levels."
Products being showcased at IMS include the following:
GaN HEMT RF power transistors covering L- & S-bands to 800W
Microsemi's expanded family of RF power transistors based on gallium nitride (GaN) high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) on silicon carbide (SiC) technology includes five new L- and S-band RF power transistors rated between 150W and 800W. The new 1012GN-800V, 1214GN-600VHE, 1214GN-400LV, 3135GN-280LV and 2425GN-150CW RF power transistors offer performance in terms of size, weight, power and efficiency suitable for a wide range of avionics, radar, and industrial, scientific & medical (ISM) applications.
RF modules & subsystems
The L0618-50-T523 is a high-power broadband GaN amplifier that delivers 100W of saturated output power over the 6-18GHz frequency range, and is offered in a compact 10" x 8.25" x 6" rack-mount configuration. Designed for land mobile electronic warfare applications, it operates from -20°C to +50°C baseplate temperature, and is provided with heat-sinks and fans for cooling. The amplifier is fault-protected with over-temperature and reverse power monitors, and operates from a 28-36V DC power supply.
Monolithic SPST PIN switch elements offer low loss through 40GHz
Microsemi's MPS4101-012S and MPS4102-013S are single-chip silicon monolithic series-shunt elements designed with minimal parasitic inductance to provide optimum insertion loss and isolation characteristics over the entire 50MHz to 40GHz frequency range. The products are suitable replacements for the conventional shunt-mounted chip and series-mounted beam lead PIN diode normally used in the manufacture of broadband microwave switches.
With less than 1.1dB insertion loss and isolation of 31dB at 26GHz, coupled with fast switching times of 5nS while handling 3W of continuous wave (CW) power, the devices are suitable for wideband high-linearity applications such as test equipment, electronic countermeasures (ECMs), and electronic warfare (EW). The products meet RoHS requirements per EU directive 2002/95/EC.
Broadband coaxial limiters deliver receiver protection to 100W CW
Microsemi's GG77317-01 through GG77317-05 series of broadband coaxial limiters provide what are claimed to be unprecedented CW power handling capability across the 10MHz to 2.5GHz, 10MHz to 4GHz and 10MHz to 6GHz frequency bands. Capable of limiting 60W, 70W and 100W of incident CW power, the broadband coaxial limiters are suitable for receiver protection in ECM, EW, radar and test equipment applications. The coaxial limiters feature insertion losses as low as 0.3dB and maximum VSWR (voltage standing wave ratio) values of 1.4:1 over the 2-3GHz frequency range. All device variants provide 1000W of peak RF power-handling capability and typical recovery times of 1.5-2µs.
Suitable for use in rugged environments as well as RF and microwave laboratory applications, the PIN-diode-based limiters feature SMA female connectors and are designed to meet or exceed the MIL-STD-883 environmental conditions without damage.
Microsemi's portfolio of MMIC products spans the DC to 65GHz frequency range and targets a broad range of applications including those in electronic warfare, radar, test & measurement instrumentation, and microwave communications. The portfolio is based on high-performance process technologies and comprises high-power and low-noise broadband amplifiers, amplifier modules, pre-scalers, attenuators and switches. The firm offers 17 distributed amplifier products. Its pre-scalers combine higher-frequency operation, the flexibility to divide by a large number of ratios, and what is claimed to be excellent residual phase noise.
