News

30 September 2010

 

RFMD expands Foundry Services to MBE-related epi products

After adding its gallium arsenide pHEMT technology to its foundry services portfolio earlier this week, RF Micro Devices Inc of Greensboro, NC, USA has further expanded its foundry services to deliver multiple molecular beam epitaxial (MBE) platforms, epitaxial characterization and epitaxial development structures, including specialty and high-volume, arsenic- and phosphorus-based processes.

Offerings include working with customers to develop epitaxial structures and MBE growth conditions, delivery of epitaxial wafers grown to exact customer specifications, and developing epitaxial design of experiments (DOEs). RFMD adds that its MBE Foundry Services will leverage the firm's expertise in high-volume manufacturing and experience in developing several generations of epitaxial structures.

“We have the industry’s fastest cycle times, and we expect to use that as a key performance discriminator in our MBE foundry service,” says Bob Van Buskirk, president of RFMD’s Multi-Market Products Group. “We have one of the world's largest MBE production facilities and two of the world's largest compound semiconductor wafer fabrication facilities in operation, which enable us to deliver a flexible set of MBE-related products and services while driving shorter time-to-market,” he adds.

RFMD says that, depending on a customer's development requirements, its MBE Foundry Services team will help to design an epilayer structure and MBE process to optimize the performance of an existing epi-structure. The team can provide experience of growing and developing structures such as BiHEMTs, BiFETs, MOSFETs, VCELs and metamorphic, along with a range of material offerings on gallium arsenide (GaAs) substrates, including gallium arsenide (GaAs), indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs), aluminum gallium arsenide (AlGaAs), indium gallium phosphide (InGaP), and aluminum indium phosphide (AlInP).

The launch of MBE Foundry Services marks another step in RFMD’s diversification strategy. RFMD aims to leverage its existing foundry experience in supporting MBE-based customers. “We are committed to growing our foundry services and have the installed capacity to meet our internal needs and the needs of our external foundry customers,” notes Van Buskirk.

“RFMD’s introduction of GaN-based foundry services in 2009 has provided a flexible business platform to launch MBE services this year,” says Chris Santana, director of MBE operations. “We now have all the aspects of a full-service, commercial turn-key foundry in place, including purchasing and IP agreements, work-flow procedures and web-based customer support processes, and we have tailored those commercial business processes and systems to our MBE-based service.”

RFMD’s MBE Foundry Services can also offer ultra-high-vacuum (UHV) cleaning services. Wet cleaning capabilities include wet mechanical cleaning, wet bead blasting, acid wet chemical etch, base wet chemical etch, and other services on stainless steel, refractory metal and PBN ceramic parts.

See related items:

RFMD adds its GaAs technology to foundry services

Search: RFMD MBE GaAs InGaAs AlGaAs InGaP AlInP

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