AlGaN/GaN-on-SiC HEMT Technology Status

GaN-based devices offer significant advantages for next generation military and commercial systems. Military systems benefit from high power densities of 4 to 7 W/mm depending on bias conditions along with efficiencies over 60% at frequencies through X-band, and commercial systems take advantage of excellent linearity as well. In this paper, we will review a number of commercial products that only GaN technology can achieve. In addition to narrow-band circuits for highly linear commercial applications, results will be shown for two commercial GaN MMIC products that have been developed for general-purpose applications in the 2.5-6.0 GHz and DC-6.0 GHz bands. Additionally, results are shown for a 2-stage high efficiency S-band switch mode amplifier operating from 3.1-3.5 GHz. Significant progress has also been made in the development of 100-mm SiC substrates. Micropipe densities as low as 2.5 cm-2 have been demonstrated for 100-mm HPSI substrates.