TriQuint Semiconductor recently announced that the company has been awarded a $2.7 million contract from DARPA for the express purpose of tripling the performance of gallium nitride (GaN) circuits. The Near Junction Thermal Transport (NJTT) project is the latest in DARPA’s Thermal Management Technologies program.
TriQuint, founded in 1985, is focused on providing RF solutions and foundry services for the communications, defense, and aerospace industries. TriQuint creates standard and custom products using gallium arsenide (GaAs), gallium nitride (GaN), surface acoustic wave, and bulk acoustic wave technologies. The company maintains facilities in the United States, production in Costa Rica, and design centers in North America and Germany.
The NJTT project is focused on thermal resistance at the ‘near junction’ of the transistor die as well as the device substrate, which can be responsible in devices for more than 50% of operational temperature increases. TriQuint will utilize its GaN on silicon carbide technology with diamond substrates as well as new thermal handling procedures. The company hopes this will reduce heat buildup and allow devices to generate more power. Lockheed Martin is slated to evaluate the results of the program.
James L. Klein, VP and GM for Infrastructure and Defense Products at TriQuint, said, “We are very pleased that DARPA selected TriQuint to develop this critical technology. Like other programs we have supported, NJTT will set the stage for substantial MMIC performance enhancements including reduced size, weight and power consumption while increasing reliability and output power.”
For more information on the company, visit www.triquint.com
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