RF Micro Devices, Inc. (RFMD) announced that it has qualified and production released the RF3934, a 140W highly-efficient gallium nitride (GaN) RF unmatched power transistor (UPT) with superior performance versus competing GaAs and silicon power technologies.

RFMD’s unmatched power transistors support "green" architectures that reduce energy consumption, improving thermal management and network efficiency for network operators. The RF3934 operates over a broad frequency range (dc to 3GHz) in a single amplifier design. The high peak efficiency of >65% minimizes thermal management demand and improves overall power consumption requirements for end customers.

Additionally, ease of design implementation and integration is enhanced through the incorporation of simple, optimized matching networks external to the package, providing wideband gain and power performance advantages in a single amplifier. The RF3934 is packaged in a hermetic, flanged ceramic two-leaded package that leverages RFMD’s advanced heat sink and power dissipation technologies to deliver excellent thermal stability and conductivity.

Jeff Shealy, VP and general manager of RFMD’s Defense and Power business unit, said, "The release of the RF3934 is an important milestone because it is the highest output power device in our UPT family. Furthermore, it is a key building block for our upcoming matched power transistor family, scheduled to be released later this fiscal year."

Bob Van Buskirk, President of RFMD’s Multi-Market Products Group, said, "Our GaN products offer the added benefit of being produced in the same high volume manufacturing environment as our RFMD cellular products, which translates into industry-leading manufacturing cycle times. We further leverage our internal, high power packaging facility, with military and government security clearances, to enable flexible assembly and test strategies and short learning cycles to support important aerospace and defense programs."

The RF3934 is designed in RFMD’s 48V high power-density GaN semiconductor process – featuring a unique combination of high RF power density and efficiency, low capacitance and high thermal conductivity. Such features enable the development of compact and efficient high power amplifiers (HPAs) for a broad range of applications, including public mobile radio (PMR), 3G/4G wireless infrastructure, ISM (industrial scientific & medical), military and civilian radar and CATV transmission networks.