Sep 15 2005
Toshiba Corporation today announced development of a gallium nitride (GaN) power field effect transistor (FET) that far surpasses the operating performance of the gallium arsenide (GaAs) FET widely used in base stations for terrestrial and satellite microwave communications. The new transistor achieves output power of 174W at 6GHz, the highest level of performance yet reported at this frequency.
Toshiba realized this breakthrough performance enhancement by optimizing the epitaxial layer and chip structures for 6GHz-band operation and by adopting a four-chip combination structure to minimize heat build-up. The result is a GaN power FET with eight times the power density of a GaAs FET and the world's highest output power at the 6GHz frequency level.
Having proven the design concept, Toshiba will continue to refine the technology, toward the target of sample releases next year. The new FET is expected to become a key component in microwave communications.
Full details of the new GaN power FET and its technology will be presented at the International Conference on Solid State Devices and Materials (SSDM), from September 12 to 15 in Kobe, Japan.