Microwave Journal
www.microwavejournal.com/articles/26466-wolfspeed-on-the-radar-screen-at-ims2016

Wolfspeed on the radar screen at IMS2016

May 11, 2016

Wolfspeed, A Cree Company and a leading global supplier of GaN-on-SiC high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) and monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) with best-in-class reliability, will highlight its latest industry-leading RF and microwave devices and foundry services at this year’s IEEE International Microwave Symposium (IMS2016), scheduled for May 22–27, 2016 in San Francisco, Calif.. The company is also supporting the IMS 2016 STEM program, and several onsite student design competitions.

A longtime exhibitor at IMS, which is globally recognized as the microwave industry’s premier annual technical conference dedicated to the latest research and product developments in microwave and RF wireless technologies, Wolfspeed will be exhibiting at Booth #1621. 

Live product demonstrations of the latest Wolfspeed™ RF technology include the CGHV14800, a new high power GaN HEMT device designed for L-Band radar applications. Providing a minimum of 800W of pulsed power at 1.2 – 1.4 GHz with better than 65% drain efficiency, the CGHV14800 is the highest output power 50V GaN HEMT demonstrated to date.

Another is Wolfspeed’s new CGHV59070 GaN HEMT for C-Band radar systems. The CGHV59070 delivers 50% drain efficiency at high gain, making it an ideal driver for the 350W, 5.2 – 5.9 GHz CGHV59350 device released last year.

Wolfspeed will also showcase a wideband LTE Doherty power amplifier, developed using the company’s high performance 0.4µm 50V GaN RF foundry process. The amplifier operates from 1.8 – 2.2 GHz instantaneously, with 55% power-added efficiency at 7.5dB backed off to improve linearity.

Compared to conventional silicon (Si) and gallium arsenide (GaAs) devices, Wolfspeed’s GaN-on-SiC devices deliver higher breakdown voltage, higher temperature operation, higher efficiency, higher thermal conductivity, higher power density, and wider bandwidths. These qualities allow Wolfspeed GaN devices to enable smaller, lighter, and more efficient microwave and RF products, including: radar, broadband, public safety, and ISM (industrial, scientific, and medical) amplifiers; broadcast, satellite, and tactical communications amplifiers; UAV data links; cellular infrastructure; test instrumentation; and two-way private radios. 

“We look forward to participating at IMS each year. It’s a great opportunity to engage with our customers, who continually push us to develop the next generation of high performance RF and microwave products,” said Jim Milligan, RF and microwave director, Wolfspeed. “We’re also proud to support the innovative STEM program established by IMS 2016 organizers, as it will provide students with an excellent introduction to wireless technology.” 

In addition to their support of the IMS 2016 STEM program, Wolfspeed is supporting two of the onsite student design competitions — one for High Efficiency Power Amplifier Design, and another that focuses on Power Amplifier Linearization Through Digital Pre-Distortion (DPD) — by both speaking with participating students and donating GaN HEMTs, large signal models, and Doherty amplifiers built with Wolfspeed GaN HEMTs.

For more information about Wolfspeed’s RF products and foundry services, please visit http://www.wolfspeed.com/rf, or, if you plan to attend IMS 2016, visit Wolfspeed at Booth #1621. For all other inquiries, please contact Ryan Baker, marketing manager and North American sales manager, Wolfspeed, at ryan.baker@wolfspeed.com or 919-407-5302.