Brenda Marie Rivers
Semiconductor manufacturer MACOM Technology Solutions has partnered with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory to transfer the lab’s gallium nitride on silicon carbide process to the company’s Massachusetts-based foundry for semiconductor production.
MACOM said Monday it signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with AFRL to use the 0.14 micron GaN-on-SiC process to the company’s government-certified foundry to support the manufacturing of monolithic microwave integrated circuits.
MACOM’s facility has achieved a “Trusted Foundry†designation from the Department of Defense and will work to support the rapid transfer of semiconductor procedures from AFRL as part of the CRADA.Â
Stephen Daly, president and CEO of MACOM, said the company's wafer fabrication complex has equipment such as electron beam lithography technology to support the production of tools for applications such as satellite communications and radar systems.
Robert Fitch, a principal electronics engineer at AFRL's sensors directorate, said the effort comes as part of the Air Force and DOD's mission to expand domestic semiconductor production capacity.
Headquartered in Lowell, Massachusetts, MACOM designs and fabricates semiconductors to support data center, industrial, defense and telecommunications operations. The company has offices in North America, Asia and Europe.
