Sanan Integrated Circuit, a pure-play wafer foundry with its advanced compound semiconductor technology platform, has announced its recognition of Plextek RFI as an authorized resource for gallium arsenide (GaAs) monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) design services in the emerging 5G market. The effectiveness of this collaboration has been demonstrated by the recent design by Plextek RFI of a single-chip surface mount packaged 4-channel 5G millimeter-wave power amplifier (PA) for the 28 GHz spectrum using Sanan IC’s P15EP1 0.15µm 6” GaAs E/D pHEMT process technology. The reference design was displayed and presented by Plextek RFI at the recent Automated RF and Microwave Measurement Society (ARMMS) Conference held in Bedfordshire, UK.
As the 5G infrastructure market expands from sub-6GHz into the millimeter-wave spectrum, RF front-end design activities for the associated telecoms equipment are naturally increasing. The roll-out of 5G infrastructure has generated demand for a variety of millimeter-wave RF front-end architectures and topologies that require high-performance GaAs IC designs.
The company’s P15EP1 process is a high-performance 6” GaAs pHEMT technology, highly integrated with E-mode, 0.15 µm gate length transistors which have an Ft of 85 GHz and Fmax of 155 GHz. The process is ideal for millimeter-wave PA and LNA designs, offering excellent gain, low noise figure, and wide bandwidth, and can be combined with 0.5 µm E-mode/D-mode devices for single-die logic implementation. This technology platform provides up to 3 metal interconnect layers, with 12 mask layers with and a back lapping thickness of 75 µm. The P15EP1 process is part of the P15 family of GaAs technologies, which can provide other options such as D-mode transistors, PIN diodes for switches and limiters, and which will be augmented later next year with a lower process node for higher frequency support.
For more information on Sanam IC's III-V semiconductor technology manufacturing platform, visit the company's booth at CES 2020 in Las Vegas from 7th to 10th January.
