Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics IAF
Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics IAF

ESAmmWGaN - Large-scale millimeter-wave GaN technology for the ESA

Weather and earth observation requires extremely powerful and robust components. With a European mm-wave GaN foundry process the construction of such components can be improved enormously and implemented cost-effectively.
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Weather and earth observation requires extremely powerful and robust components. With a European mm-wave GaN foundry process the construction of such components can be improved enormously and implemented cost-effectively.

The number of applications that are using the millimeter-wave (30-300 GHz) part of the spectrum are continuously growing. Amongst others these applications include personal communication, automotive radar and weather and earth Observation. This increment is mainly driven by the increased high-frequency capability of semiconductors. Gallium-Nitride (GaN) is a breakthrough material offering huge enhancements in power amplifier performance in this field. For this project, experts of the Fraunhofer IAF are working with the material GaN to optimize the epitaxial growth, the processing and the characterization of wafers. The goal is it to develop a preliminary characterization of component building blocks needed to establish a European mm-wave GaN foundry process.

Projekttitel ESAmmWGaN -  Investigation and preliminary characterization of component building blocks needed to establish a European mm-wave GaN foundry process
Laufzeit 2015 − 2018
Projektkoordinator Fraunhofer-Institut für Angewandte Festkörperphysik (IAF)
Fördermittelgeber European Space Agency (ESA)
Kooperationspartner

United Monolithic Semiconductors (UMS) GmbH, France
Projektleiter Dr. Rüdiger Quay
Ziele
  • Realisation of an industrial mm-wave GaN foundry process
  • Epitaxial growth optimization, processing and characterization
  • mm-wave GaN process space compatibility