News

12 January 2010

 

Cree launches GaN HEMT MMIC power amplifier and samples new transistors

Cree Inc of Durham, NC, USA has launched a new gallium nitride high-electron-mobility transistor (GaN HEMT) monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) power amplifier that offers 25 Watts output power over an instantaneous bandwidth of 20MHz to 6GHz, and typically has 12dB of power gain and operates with supply voltages up to 50V.

The firm says that the CMPA0060025F suits military and ISM (industrial, scientific and medical) applications that require high power and broadband amplification up to 6GHz. It is also packaged within a footprint of 0.25 square inches, making it one of the smallest high-power amplifiers covering this bandwidth on the market, it is claimed.

“The CMPA0060025F is a direct result of customer requests for a small, high-power, high-efficiency amplifier with performance through 6GHz,” says Tom Dekker, director of sales & marketing for RF Products. “It is designed to satisfy these requirements using Cree's proven GaN MMIC foundry process and the convenient package format found in our other GaN MMIC products,” he adds. “We have received excellent customer feedback for our existing GaN MMIC products and are excited to be expanding this product line while continuing to offer custom MMIC foundry services.”

Cree has also announced the sample release of two new GaN HEMT transistors that expand the power range and addressable applications of the product family.

The CGH40006P is a 6 Watt GaN HEMT covering a frequency range of DC through 6GHz, and is suitable for driver and medium power stages within broadband amplifier topologies. In addition, it can be used in low-noise amplifier applications where the superior ruggedness of GaN HEMTs can lessen the need for the protection components that are typically required in GaAs MESFET low-noise amplifiers.

A demonstration amplifier using the new transistor, operating at 28V, provided a 2–6GHz instantaneous bandwidth achieving 12dB average small-signal gain and 8 Watts typical saturated output power at greater than 50% drain efficiency over the entire band.

Cree has also introduced the CGH31240F, a high-power, class A/B S-Band GaN HEM that is an internally matched 240W packaged device for the 2.7–3.1GHz band. Designed for civil radar applications such as weather and air traffic control as well as for marine radar, the CGH31240F, operating at 28V, offers over 10dB power gain while providing over 240 Watts saturated power with greater than 50% power added efficiency using a 300 microsecond, 10% duty-cycle pulsed signal.

“The CGH40006P and CGH31240F are important new products which reflect our roadmap of GaN HEMT transistors and MMICs that offer higher power, bandwidth and ruggedness than conventional technologies such as GaAs and Si,” says Dekker.

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