STMicroelectronics and MACOM Technology Solutions Holdings Inc. have announced the successful production of radio-frequency Gallium-Nitride-on Silicon (RF GaN-on-Si) prototypes. With this achievement, ST and MACOM will continue to work together and enhance relationship. RF GaN-on-Silicon offers high potential for 5G and 6G infrastructure.

The long-term incumbent RF power technology, laterally-diffused metal-oxide semiconductor (LDMOS), dominated early-generation RF power amplifiers (PAs). GaN can offer superior RF characteristics and significantly higher output power than LDMOS for these RF PAs. Further, it can be manufactured on either silicon or silicon-carbide (SiC) wafers.

RF GaN-on-SiC can be more expensive because of the competition for SiC wafers from high-power applications and because of its non-mainstream semiconductor processing. On the other hand, the GaN-on-Si technology under development by ST and MACOM is expected to offer competitive performance paired with large economies of scale, enabled by its integration into standard semiconductor process flows.