RF Micro Devices has announced it has been awarded a $2.1 million contract from DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) to enhance the thermal efficiency of GaN (gallium nitride) circuits used in high-power radar and other military systems. The award is in association with the NJTT (near-junction thermal transport) effort of DARPA's TMT (thermal-management technologies) program. The goal of the DARPA NJTT initiative is to achieve a three-times or greater improvement in power handling from GaN power amplifiers through improved thermal management of the near-junction region. By combining thermally enhanced diamond substrates with RFMD's GaN-on-SiC high-power technology, RFMD expects to significantly improve power density and power-handling capability. Jeff Shealy, vice president and general manager of RFMD's Power Broadband business unit, said, "RFMD is excited to work with DARPA to apply new technologies to our existing portfolio of GaN-based high power RF amplifier products. We expect the NJTT program will result in a new generation of higher performing, more compact RF HPAs (high power amplifiers) with lower operating temperature and greater RF power-per-unit area." RFMD's partners in the program include the Georgia Institute of Technology, Stanford University, Group4 Labs, and Boeing. Georgia Tech is recognized for its leadership in thermal testing, modeling, and micro Raman thermography. Stanford University is a leader in thermal measurement of the critical interface layers within a transistor die. Group4 Labs is a pioneer in the development of diamond substrates. Finally, Boeing plans to evaluate the resulting technology to assess its projected impact on future defense systems. RFMD
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