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At this week’s IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium (IMS 2008) in Atlanta, GA, USA, Toshiba America Electronic Components Inc (TAEC) of Irvine, CA, on behalf of Japanese parent company Toshiba Corp, is exhibiting new power added efficiency gallium arsenide (GaAs) FETs for X-band and C-band applications, as well as commercially available gallium nitride (GaN) field-effect transistors (FET) for C-band, X-band and Ku-band applications as part of a new roadmap showing plans for continued development of a wide range of GaN devices.

“As a longtime supplier of high-performance gallium arsenide microwave devices for wireless applications in the S, C, X and Ku frequency bands, Toshiba plans to continue to expand the product line with new higher-efficiency solutions,” says Tadahisa Aoto, manager, microwave sales and marketing for Toshiba Corp, Social Infrastructure Systems Company.

GaAs FETs lineup expanded with four high-gain, PAE-enhanced amplifiers for microwave radios and BUCs

TAEC has expanded its GaAs FETs lineup with four new devices optimized for power-added efficiency.

Two new X-band GaAs FETs for microwave digital radios supporting point-to-point and point-to-multipoint terrestrial communications operate in the 10.7-11.7GHz range. The TIM1011-2UL has typical output power (at 1dB gain compression point) of 2W, or 33.5dBm, linear gain of 9.5dB and power added efficiency of 36%. The TIM1011-8UL has typical output power (at 1dB gain compression point) of 8W, or 39.5dBm, linear gain of 9.0dB, and power efficiency of 39%.

Two new 30W C-band power amplifiers are targeted at block up-converters (BUCs) for very small aperture terminals (VSAT) and solid-state power amplifiers (SSPAs) in satellite applications. The 5.9-6.4GHz TIM 5964-30 UL has typical output power (at 1dB gain compression point) of 45dBm, gain of 10dB and power efficiency of 41%. The 7.7-8.5GHz TIM 7785-30 UL has typical output power (at 1dB gain compression point) of 45dBm, gain of 9dB and power efficiency of 39%.

“In the conversion from old analog transmission technology to digital in the telecommunication industry, system operators need to install more equipment or boards into the same limited space, and are asking microwave communication system designers to develop smaller and lighter systems,” says Homayoun Ghani, business development manager for Microwave, Logic, and Small Signal Devices in TAEC’s Discrete business unit. “The improved efficiency of these power amplifier s will help microwave designers ease thermal management in their BUC and SSPA designs, such as smaller heat sinks and possible fan-less configurations, contributing to reduced size and weight of the overall system ,” he adds. Toshiba is also developing high-gain and high-PAE FETs for the Ku-band to address the satcom market.

Toshiba says that it is also committed to ongoing development of GaN technology as one of the focus areas for its high-power microwave transistor line, since GaN enables higher levels of performance that surpass the capabilities of GaAs (as a result of its superior material properties, with higher electron velocity, higher breakdown voltage, and easier handling characteristics).

Toshiba adds PAs for Ku-band satcom and X-band radar to GaN HEMT family

Toshiba’s initial commercial lineup of GaN high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) includes a 50W X-band device for radar and medical applications that operates at 8.5-9.6GHz (launched commercially at IMS 2007) plus two new GaN HEMTs (on display at IMS 2008) in the family of FET-based power amplifier products.

Toshiba’s first GaN HEMT for satcom communications applications, the 50W 14-14.5GHz Ku-band TGI1414-50L has typical output power of 47dBm, with 42dBm input power, linear gain of 8dB and drain current of 5A at a supply voltage of 24V. Targeted applications include high-power solid-state power amplifiers (SSPA) and very small aperture terminals (VSAT). Samples are available now, for mass production in third-quarter 2008. An extended Ku-band power amplifier for the 13.75-14.5GHz range will also be released in the near future.

The 50W 9.5-10.5GHz X-band TGI0910-50 has typical output power of 47dBm, with 41dBm input power, linear gain of 9dB and drain current of 4.5A at a supply voltage of 24V. Targeted applications include border surveillance and security, as well as Doppler radar that can detect the motion of rain droplets and the intensity of precipitation for severe weather warning. Samples will be available in third-quarter 2008.

“The expansion of our GaN power amplifier family brings higher-power and higher-gain features to microwave designers, which reduces heat-sink requirements with smaller part counts and enables smaller systems with higher performance and efficiency,” says Ghani. “Additional GaN C-band satcom and Ku-band devices for broadband and radar applications are in development.”

Toshiba’s GaN roadmap through 2010 includes devices for the C-, X-, Ku- and Ka-bands. For X-band applications in the 8-12GHz range, additional 50W devices are planned for 2009, along with a low-noise amplifier, 8W and 15W high-performance transistors for broadband applications and, by 2010, a 100W X-band device for radar applications. Additional Ku-band GaN HEMT devices are planned with output powers of 50W for 2009 and 100W for 2010. Higher-frequency devices in the Ka-band (18-42GHz), with output power of 5W and 10W, are also on the roadmap for 2009 and 2010, respectively. For communications applications, 4W and 8W C-band GaN HEMTs for wideband are planned in 2008/2009, followed by C-band satcom devices with output powers of more than 100W in 2009 and 150W in 2010.

See releted items:

Toshiba presents GaN power FET with record Ku-band output power

Toshiba launches X-band GaN HEMT for radar and medical applications

Search: Toshiba America GaAs FETs GaN FETs X-band C-band Ku-band GaN HEMTs

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