IQE  has won a contract with US-based semiconductor foundry TriQuint Semiconductor to provide gallium nitride (GaN) wafer products for the fabrication of high dynamic range circuits for future defence and aerospace applications.

IQE's New Jersey operation sub-contract GaN wafer products to TriQuint as part of an $16.2m Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) multi-year GaN R&D contract.

The programme aims to advance GaN research and develop new generations of compound semiconductor circuits through the Nitride Electronic NeXt-Generation Technology (NEXT) programme.

GaN is already recognised for its ability to handle more power per square millimetre than other semiconductor technologies like gallium arsenide and silicon.

This project is aimed at adressing some of the operating frequency and power limits of the technology and if successful could see it becoming a mainstream semiconductor technology.

"NEXT circuits will be `game-changing` technology that could radically improve performance in defence and aerospace applications like phased array radar and communications. NEXT calls for complex digital GaN circuits that also have very high breakdown voltages-something that silicon can't do, and that is also beyond the scope of today's other semiconductor processes," said TriQuint's Principal Investigator, senior Fellow Dr. Paul Saunier.

"The four and half  year NEXT programme lead by TriQuint will utilise IQE's GaN wafer product expertise with the ultimate aim of developing and producing advanced semiconductor chips with operating frequencies up to 500GHz," said Alex Ceruzzi, v-p and general manager of IQE's New Jersey facility, which specialises in GaN HEMT epi processes.

The Group's gallium nitride production capability was recently increased through the acquisition of UK-based NanoGan Limited announced earlier in October 2009