Filtronic expands hybrid microelectronics assembly & test facility with $1.3m equipment investment

Filtronic, which designs and manufactures antennas, filters and millimeter-wave (mmWave) products for the wireless telecoms and critical communications markets, has invested more than $1.3m in new equipment for its manufacturing facility in Sedgefield, UK. The expansion will enable Filtronic to significantly increase capacity to meet growing demand for both its highly integrated E-band transceiver modules for mobile telecoms backhaul infrastructure and its precision hybrid microelectronics assembly & test services, including mmWave device packaging and sub-assembly manufacturing.

The new equipment includes automated pick-and-place and wire-bonding machines to augment Filtronic’s existing assembly and production lines.

“5G backhaul network deployments are now driving a significant increase in demand for our E-band transceiver modules and a growing demand for microelectronics assembly services, in particular at microwave and mmWave frequencies,” says executive chairman Reg Gott. “In addition to being able to produce high volumes of our own mmWave transceiver modules and filter products, the quality of our microelectronics assembly line and test capability is attracting an increasing level of business for our custom design and manufacturing services,” he adds. “As a result, we are also increasing our workforce to cope with this demand.”

Filtronic’s hybrid microelectronics assembly & test services include: low-void die attach and precision component placement; fully automated wire bonding with deep-access multi-level capability; hermetic sealing; and automated test to 90GHz and above. Proprietary air-cavity packages can include mixed gallium arsenide (GaAs), gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon die within a single package, and are capable of performing at frequencies higher than 90GHz.

Tags: E-band MMICs RF testing

Visit: www.filtronic.com