TriQuint moves into pHEMTs

TriQuint Semiconductor has introduced the high-volume TQPED pHEMT process at its 150mm Oregon wafer manufacturing facility.

TriQuint Semiconductor has introduced the high-volume TQPED pHEMT process at its 150mm Oregon wafer manufacturing facility.

This process will enable designers of RF front-end components to increase integration levels due to the inclusion of both enhancement- and depletion-mode pHEMT transistors, on-chip passives, three-level interconnects and substrate vias.

By combining control functions with an advanced, high-performance pHEMT process, designers can achieve higher levels of integration and performance than previously possible with single-mode transistor processes.

"Customers have increasingly been asking for the performance achievable in GaAs pHEMT technology", said Rob Christ, TriQuint's Director of Marketing in Oregon.

"The TQPED process allows customers to increase circuit functionality by integrating features such as logic and control circuitry directly on the IC instead of off-chip while taking advantage of the performance characteristics of our highly manufacturable pHEMT technology".

The TQPED process is an extension of TriQuint's current pHEMT process, which has a history of high-volume production.

The two pHEMT transistor types are targeted at functions such as low-noise amplifiers, high-isolation switches, convertors, power amplifiers, and combinations of these blocks.

The ability to integrate all of these circuit functions, including passive components, leads to smaller physical devices and ultimately lower cost, due to the reduction in both the number of components and PCB area for a wide variety of products.

"TriQuint has a long history of leadership with integrated enhancement-mode and depletion-mode transistor processes, starting with the world's first commercially viable E-D MESFET process in 1986", added Christ.

"By moving this capability to pHEMT technology, TQPED is the next major step for integrating analogue and control functions for today's important wireless applications".

These applications include RF front-ends, WLAN transceivers, DBS receivers, digital radios, and general RF/mixed-signal communications products.

A preliminary design kit and pHEMT device models are available now, and full production process release is scheduled for the third quarter of 2004.

TriQuint Semiconductor is represented exclusively in the UK and Ireland by Link Microtek.

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