Satellites may soon carry Raytheon’s Gallium Nitride (GaN) technology into Earth orbit. Raytheon Company (RTN) has successfully validated its GaN Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) technology for use in space-bound equipment.
Raytheon GaN MMICs, fabricated at its Andover, Massachusetts foundry, demonstrated the radiation hardness required for space through Single Event Burn-out (SEB) and Total Ionizing Dose (TID) testing. The results showed the devices are not susceptible to catastrophic failure caused by heavy ions. Further testing showed no loss of performance at exposure levels up to 1Mrad, significantly more than is needed for typical space applications.
GaN-based components are more than five times more powerful than semiconductors presently used in radars and other types of sensors resulting in lighter, more capable electronics.
“Raytheon’s GaN technology is mature, robust, and already integrated into a number of defense systems for land, sea and air,” said Paul Ferraro, Raytheon’s vice president of Integrated Defense Systems’ Advanced Technologies Programs. “Now that our GaN is validated for space, Raytheon customers can use this game-changing technology in a wide variety of space-based applications.”
Click here to read more about Raytheon’s GaN technology.
About Raytheon
Raytheon Company, with 2013 sales of $24 billion and 63,000 employees worldwide, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, security and civil markets throughout the world. With a history of innovation spanning 92 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration and other capabilities in the areas of sensing; effects; and command, control, communications and intelligence systems, as well as cyber security and a broad range of mission support services. Raytheon is headquartered in Waltham, Mass. For more about Raytheon, visit us at www.raytheon.com and follow us on Twitter @Raytheon.
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