Thea Loise Woodward
BAE Systems will move to further develop a semiconductor technology from the U.S. Air Force for potential use in military communications, electronic warfare and radar platforms.
The company said Tuesday its research and development group will collaborate with the firm’s open foundry service under the second phase of a project to advance the manufacturing readiness level of USAF’s gallium nitride monolithic microwave integrated circuit after completing a technology transition initiative.
BAE agreed to transition the short-gate GaN technology to its Advanced Microvae Products Center as part of a cooperative agreement signed with the Air Force Research Laboratory last year.
The FAST Labs R&D team and the AMP Center will work to expand the 140-nanometer MMIC to 6-inch semiconductor wafers and perform a validation process meant to increase material performance, stability, uniformity and yield rates.
Chris Rappa, FAST Labs product line director for radio frequency, electronic warfare and advanced electronics, said the company aims to bring GaN technology to the production and commercialization phases as well as address the Department of Defense requirement for amplifiers.
ENGIN-ICÂ will assist with the semiconductor design process.
BAE aims to have a finished product that can be made at scale by its foundry service for deployment to government programs.
