Akoustis Technologies (“Akoustis” or the “Company”), an integrated device manufacturer (IDM) of patented bulk acoustic wave (BAW) high-band RF filters for mobile and other wireless applications, announced that it has developed a new advanced single-crystal XBAW® material using epitaxial (EPI) Aluminum Scandium Nitride (AlScN) on Silicon wafer. This new material was developed with funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to scale the XBAW® technology to frequencies up to 18 GHz. The Company plans to begin sampling filters using the new single-crystal material in the current quarter.
Akoustis re-developed its advanced single-crystal nanomaterial that delivers BAW filters with higher power handling and improved harmonics over its existing poly-crystal technology. Higher power handling offers customers the ability to design products with higher transmit power and, consequently, greater range and obstruction penetration. Improved harmonics reduce the unwanted out-of-band spurious emissions that could cause interference or fail FCC and other standards approval. The development of the new single-crystal material relies significantly on many of the Company’s fundamental patents and trade secrets.
Jeff Shealy, founder and CEO of Akoustis, stated, “Producing this new single-crystal material is the culmination of many years of engineering and has been enabled through our strong partnership with DARPA, which has recognized our technology through its continued support.” Mr. Shealy continued, “This new material offers significant improvements over what can be achieved today in our poly-crystal technologies, with advantages in power handling and improved harmonics. We expect this new material will deliver improved performance in BAW across 5G mobile devices, 5G mobile infrastructure, Wi-Fi, automotive, defense and other markets.”
Akoustis continues to experience strong demand and a growing sales funnel for its Wi-Fi, 5G mobile, and 5G infrastructure products, as well as its new XBAW®/SAW resonator and oscillator products, and semiconductor back-end services. During the June quarter, the Company shipped samples of its new 5.6 GHz/6.6 GHz Wi-Fi 6E/7 XBAW® filter products to multiple customers. Akoustis continues to add new Wi-Fi design wins, many of which are expected to ramp into production in calendar 2023.
Click here to learn more about Akoustis' XBAW technology.
