13 March 2012

GaN microelectronics development expanding

As products using gallium nitride (GaN) technology continue to gain acceptance in military and commercial applications, development activities at microelectronics companies are accelerating, notes the Strategy Analytics GaAs and Compound Semiconductor Technologies Service (GaAs) viewpoint ‘Compound Semiconductor Industry Review October-December 2011: Microelectronics’.

The viewpoint from market research firm Strategy Analytics summarizes technology, product, contract, financial and employment announcements from compound semiconductor device suppliers such as RF Micro Devices, Skyworks Solutions, Fujitsu, Anadigics, Agilent, Hittite Microwave, TriQuint Semiconductor, Avago, NXP Semiconductors, Microsemi, Renesas Electronics, Freescale, Broadcom, Cree and Murata Manufacturing in fourth-quarter 2011.

“GaN-based products have demonstrated performance advantages for military systems for some time and they are finally beginning to see acceptance in commercial applications, such as CATV and wireless infrastructure,” notes Eric Higham, director of the Strategy Analytics GaAs and Compound Semiconductor Technologies Service. “As these application areas broaden, the industry is responding by increasing their efforts to develop new products, processes and partnerships,” he adds.

“Recent announcements indicate growing interest in GaN-on-silicon processing (to reduce cost) and higher-voltage GaN processes (which will improve power-handling performance),” comments Asif Anwar, director of the Strategy Analytics Strategic Technologies Practice.

See related items:

GaN gaining traction in commercial applications

Tags: GaN GaN microelectronics

Visit: www.strategyanalytics.com