Due to their high power density and high frequency capabilities, new wide-bandgap materials like GaN and SiC are opening new market for RF devices.SiC MESFET or GaN HEMT are now able to challenge other technologies in 1 to 100 GHz frequency band and 100 watts power, featuring PAE more than 40% (Fig.
1).Today, these components are already ad-dressing 3 main markets:
• Wireless communications including 3G base stations for handset phones (BTS) and SatCom
• Defense (radar, jamming, guided mis-siles…)
• Space In the future, GaN HEMT or SiC MESFET will target much larger volume markets like VSAT terminals or microwave ovens.The third generation of mobile phones (WCDMA: 3G) is now requiring high po-larization voltage transistors in order to face BTS having a power in the range of 300W in the 1700 – 2200 MHz band.
About 40 operators have announced plans to start 3G commercial operation by end of year 2003.
First prototypes will be installed within 2004.We forecast that Power Amplifiers market will reach the range of $650 M$.
(Fig.
2)SiC MESFET and GaN HEMT are compet-ing on this market segment as a replace-ment technology.
Companies like Cree or Rockwell announced first commercial offers in SiC MESFET from base band up to S-band.
At the same time, Cree, Nitronex, Fujitsu, NEC or RFMD are showing impres-sive results on GaN FET structures.Now, the challenge for these components is to achieve:
• long life-time,
• high power efficiency (PAE),
• good reliability,
• price competitiveness,
• flat frequency response on whole bandwidth.Base station business:According to power amplifiers’ manufactur-ers, microwave transistors market is a cost-driven market.
They are expecting reliable components in the 1$/watt price.
To break the silicon LDMOS monopole, SiC or GaN technologies have to propose new solutions.Defense applications:Defense is focusing on wide-bandgap RF transistors or MMIC to be implemented in:
• Active Electronically Steered Antenna (AESA): fighters, naval or ground-level radars
• ECM: Countermeasure systems
• Defense communication systems
• Guided missilesCurrently, GaAs transistors are mainly implemented in RF defense modules.
Active antennas and guided missiles could represent a huge potential.
For example, the yearly need will of more than 20,000 RF modules in each antennas and of hundreds of thousand of missiles.Finally, this report will help you to under-stand the SiC/GaN battle in the microwave business and to forecast your potential business in terms of volumes and revenues.