MACOM’s RF Energy Toolkit now available for commercial OEMs designing GaN-on-Si-based RF systems

M/A-COM Technology Solutions Inc of Lowell, MA, USA (which makes semiconductors, components and subassemblies for analog RF, microwave, millimeter-wave and photonic applications) says that its RF Energy Toolkits are now available for order, meeting surging demand for a flexible and cost-effective development platform that helps to accelerate time to market with high-performance, power-efficient solid-state RF systems. Targeted for use in commercial markets ranging from cooking, lighting and industrial heating/drying to medical/pharmaceutical, automotive ignition systems and beyond, the RF Energy Toolkits enable engineers to quickly and easily take advantage of GaN-on-Si as a high-precision, high-efficiency energy source, says MACOM.

The firm says that the all-in-one versatility and ease-of-use of its RF Energy Toolkit streamlines development cycles and costs for GaN-on-Si-based RF systems, equipping engineers to overcome the limitations of legacy magnetron power sources while achieving significantly higher efficiency than silicon LDMOS-based systems, at comparable cost structures. Designers can fine-tune RF energy output for any application requirements, with push-button ease and an intuitive display interface. OEMs designing for more complex RF energy applications can tap MACOM and its partner network for custom applicator and algorithm development, plus expert engineering support.

The RF Energy Toolkits can scale power output up to 300W leveraging the onboard MACOM GaN-on-Si power transistor, and can be paralleled for higher-power applications. The Toolkits support pulsed and continuous-wave operation at the 2.45GHz frequency band. Future Toolkits will support the 915MHz frequency band.

“Commercial OEMs have awakened to the massive market opportunity for GaN-on-Si-based solid-state RF systems which essentially remove most of the limitations of magnetron-based systems, but they are new to this technology, and design and development challenges have slowed their time to market – until now,” says Mark Murphy, senior director, RF Power. “The RF Energy Toolkit affords them an all-in-one, adaptable ‘Swiss army knife’ solution that removes the engineering barriers that have impeded OEMs’ adoption of RF energy, liberating them to take giant strides forward on the path to mainstream commercialization,” he adds.

MACOM is showcasing its RF Energy Toolkit in booth #200 at European Microwave Week (EuMW 2017) in Nuremberg, Germany (10-12 October). RF Energy Toolkits are available for order now.