TRW INDIUM PHOSPHIDE MICROWAVE AMPLIFIER CHIP DELIVERS WORLD RECORD POWER DENSITY.TRW TRW The Real World (TV reality show) TRW The Right Way TRW Tactical Reconnaissance Wing TRW The Retriever Weekly (University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD) TRW Thompson Ramo Wooldridge Inc Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :TRW), a world leader in advanced semiconductors, has developed a highly efficient microwave power amplifier chip that delivers world record levels of power per unit of semiconductor area for integrated circuits operating at more than 20 billion cycles per second (20 GHz). The record-breaking amplifier, fabricated in a high-performance semiconductor material known as indium phosphide phosphide Any of a class of chemical compounds in which phosphorous is combined with a metal. Phosphides exhibit a wide variety of chemical and physical properties. Phosphides that are rich in metal have high melting points and are hard, brittle, and chemically inert; these (InP), achieved an output power density of 360 milliwatts per square millimeter at 23 GHz. "High performance microwave power amplifiers are a key requirement for next-generation digital radios and space-based communication systems," said Dwight Streit, TRW's vice president for Advanced Semiconductors. "Our new InP power amplifier demonstrates not only record power density that's at least twice that of any other power amplifier available today, but also provides excellent linearity and power-added efficiency. This combination of performance characteristics is ideal for a microwave power amplifier." The power amplifier is described in a technical paper that was presented at the 2000 IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, New York, www.ieee.org) A membership organization that includes engineers, scientists and students in electronics and allied fields. GaAs IC Symposium, held in November in Seattle. The chip, with an output power of 400 milliwatts, was developed by TRW under contract to the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL Noun 1. AFRL - a United States Air Force defense laboratory responsible for discovering and developing and integrating fighting technologies for aerospace forces Air Force Research Laboratory U. S. ), Sensors Directorate, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 8,023 acres (3,247 hectares), W Ohio, NE of Dayton; est. 1917. One of the largest airport installations in the world, it is the air force's main research and development base, and the headquarters of the , Ohio, as part of the government's Dual Use Science and Technology program. "This technology achievement paves the way for advanced, power-efficient active apertures used in space-based and airborne radars," said Tim Kemerley, Chief of the AFRL Aerospace Components and Subsystems Technology Division, Sensors Directorate. "These aerospace radar systems will need highly efficient transmit amplifiers, as well as novel approaches to antenna packaging and integration, to meet requirements for multifunction performance, low mass and affordable cost." Streit added that TRW is working aggressively to bring InP technology to specific commercial telecommunication markets in the coming year. Late last year TRW announced the completion of a high-volume InP production facility, which will produce TRW's advanced InP for rapidly growing telecommunications market applications, including fiber optic transmission systems, mobile wireless communications and broadband wireless services. Fabrication fabrication (fab´rikā´sh  n),n the construction or making of a restoration. equipment is currently being installed, with low-volume pilot production scheduled for early 2001. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion