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STMicroelectronics and MACOM RF Gallium-Nitride-on-Silicon prototypes achieve technology and performance milestones
GENEVA & LOWELL, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- MACOM(NYSE:MTSI) Devices meet cost and performance targets and move effort to qualification stage Shows strong
About this update from Macom Technology Solutions Holdings, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":" GENEVA & LOWELL, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\nMACOM(NYSE:MTSI)\n\n\nDevices meet cost and performance targets and move effort to qualification stage\n\n\nShows strong progress for resilient volume manufacturing and supply\n\n\nSTMicroelectronics (“ST”) (NYSE: STM), a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications, and MACOM Technology Solutions Holdings Inc. (“MACOM”) (NASDAQ: MTSI), a leading supplier of semiconductor products for the Telecommunications, Industrial and Defense and Datacenter industries, have announced the successful production of radio-frequency Gallium-Nitride-on Silicon (RF GaN-on-Si) prototypes. With this achievement, ST and MACOM will continue to work together and enhance our relationship.\n\nRF GaN-on-Silicon offers high potential for 5G and 6G infrastructure. The long-term incumbent RF power technology, laterally-diffused metal-oxide semiconductor (LDMOS), dominated early-generation RF power amplifiers (PAs). GaN can offer superior RF characteristics and significantly higher output power than LDMOS for these RF PAs. Further, it can be manufactured on either silicon or silicon-carbide (SiC) wafers. RF GaN-on-SiC can be more expensive because of the competition for SiC wafers from high-power applications and because of its non-mainstream semiconductor processing. On the other hand, the GaN-on-Si technology under development by ST and MACOM is expected to offer competitive performance paired with large economies of scale, enabled by its integration into standard semiconductor process flows.\n\nPrototype wafers and devices manufactured by ST have achieved cost and performance targets that would allow them to effectively compete with the incumbent LDMOS and GaN-on-SiC technologies on the market. These prototypes are now moving to the next big milestones – qualification and industrialization. ST is on target to hit these milestones in 2022. With this progress, ST and MACOM have begun discussions to further expand their efforts to accelerate delivery of advanced RF GaN-on-Si products to the market.\n\n“We believe that the technology has now reached performance levels and process maturity where it can effectively challenge the established LDMOS and GaN-on-SiC and we can offer attractive cost and supply-chain advantages for high-volume applications, including Wireless I...