17 December 2014

Raytheon's GaN MMIC technology validated for space applications

Raytheon Company of Waltham, MA, USA says that satellites may soon carry its gallium nitride (GaN) technology into Earth orbit, as it has validated its GaN monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) technology for use in space-bound equipment.

Fabricated at its foundry in Andover, MA, the firm’s GaN MMICs demonstrated the radiation hardness required for space through Single Event Burn-out (SEB) and Total Ionizing Dose (TID) testing. The results showed that the devices are not susceptible to catastrophic failure caused by heavy ions. Further testing showed no loss of performance at exposure levels up to 1Mrad, significantly more than is needed for typical space applications.

GaN-based components are more than five times more powerful than semiconductors currently used in radars and other types of sensors, resulting in lighter, more capable electronics.

“Raytheon's GaN technology is mature, robust, and already integrated into a number of defense systems for land, sea and air,” says Paul Ferraro, VP of Advanced Technologies Programs at Raytheon’s Integrated Defense Systems business in Tewksbury, MA. “Now that our GaN is validated for space, Raytheon customers can use this game-changing technology in a wide variety of space-based applications.”

See related items:

Raytheon outlines continuing maturing of GaN technology DARPA’s WBGS program

Raytheon enters 15th year of GaN technology development and system integration

Tags: Raytheon GaN MMIC

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