07 Jan 2019: the review

2019: THE REVIEW

GaN, 5G, new process, new products and more.

2020 has just started and before going any further, we would like to present you our dedicated season’s greeting. Before getting back to work, let’s take a break and take stock of 2019. It has been a buoyant year for OMMIC, carried out by the release of new millimetre waves (mmW) and sub-terahertz (sTHz) processes.

JANUARY: GaN ON 6-INCH FOR 5G PRE-SERIES

People generally starts the year by making an inventory and making sure the (hopefully close to empty) storage is kept up to date. OMMIC on the other hand focused on production, increasing its capacity by manufacturing 6-inch wafers for the 5th generation of mobile telecommunication (5G). OMMIC’s 6-inch GaN/Si production line is the first of its kind in Europe for RF application now available for all customer through open foundry service.

FEBRUARY: GaN/Si PROCESS PDK IS AVAILABLE

D006GH has always been in our GaN roadmap as the logical extension of D01GH for W-band application. This is why OMMIC’s GaN Process Design Kit (PDK) is called “universal”; it was created with the goal to support both processes from the beginning. This feature means that both D01GH and D006GH can be used on the same wafer and, for additional design opportunity, even on the same MMIC.

MARCH: A NEW PRODUCT INTRODUCTION

CGY2651UH/C1 was first showcased at IMS in 2018. It is A 40 GHz GaN Power Amplifier (PA) designed to offer up to 42 dBm output power. Perfectly suited for radar, telecommunication and (eventually) space application, this PA features a stunning 35 % Power Added Efficiency (PAE) at saturation. After being available on 3-inch, the PA is now the first standard product to be offered on 6-inch, the new meaning of our “in production” mention.

APRIL: WORK ON A 5G PLATFORM

For more than a year, OMMIC has been designing and building a hybrid platform based on GaN technology for Serena H2020 project. This platform would serve as a basis for 5G and radar technologies of autonomous cars. Last April, OMMIC presented the first results (at the MMIC level) that went beyond the expectations. The next step is to make some system level measurements, stay tuned!

MAY: NEW GaN DESIGN

Our GaN/Si D01GH process received a very enthusiastic welcome from our customers. Since 2015 and our GaN process release, most of our design work involved providing custom GaN designs to our customers. In May, we decided to invest in developing a larger GaN standard portfolio. This resulted in the design of PAs, (6 – 18 GHz, Ka-band), LNA (X-band, Ka-band) and Front-end Chip (PA + LNA + SPDT at 28 GHz). These products are expected to hit the market anytime now.

JUNE: DEVELOPMENT OF NEXT GENERATION mHEMT PROCESS

OMMIC is developing the D004IH process, a 40 nm GaAs m-HEMT technology for ultra-low-noise application up to the Terahertz domain. A Proof of Concept (PoC) LNA was demonstrated in the frame of Ultrawave H2020.

JULY & AUGUST: NEW PRODUCTION INVESTMENTS

The semiconductor demand has been important for the past years. Confident in the future, OMMIC decided to strengthen its production capacity by purchasing additional production equipment. In the package, one can notably cite a brand-new E-beam machine, a necessary tool for the upcoming processes with always smaller gate length.

SEPTEMBER: A NEW WEBSITE

A few months ago, OMMIC gave its website a (much needed) lift. After months of work, we finalized what is now OMMIC’s new face on the Internet. In addition to using more modern technologies, the website has been designed to help users quickly navigate to the information they are looking for, being standard product information, foundry service PDKs or simple information on the company. Additionally, a secure area has been created to allow users download our digital library and upload their sensitive documents. If you have not done it yet, request an account and try-out the world’s best mmW GaN process.

OCTOBER: A LIVE DEMO AT EuMW

This year, the European Microwave Week was held at Paris, so we had to take advantage of being home to do something exciting. We have been presenting our GaN technology for many years, but a real-time test is ultimately the best way to test-out a technology. That is what we allowed people doing in the show with state-of-the-art equipment. We took our CGY2651UH/C1 (GaN/Si PA) standard evaluation kit and allowed attendee to perform a wideband modulation measurement using Keysight’s latest PNA-X.

The setup allowed us to perform some linearity measurements such as NPR, ACLR and EVM on our 40 GHz PA, in CW for three days with power levels from saturation to 10 dB backup. More information on the demo can be found in our dedicated blog post. Many of you have seen this live demo and we were very enthusiast to see numerous engineers and doctors sharing our interest about the technology and setup.

NOVEMBER: A NEW MODULE

A few weeks ago, we started introducing a new kind of product : a 40 GHz PA Module. Based on the feedback we received about the CGY2651UH/C1, we decided to make it even easier to test it and use it, by designing a RF module for it. If you would like to try this out, do not hesitate to contact us.

DECEMBER: A BIG PROJECT ACHIEVED

In 2017, OMMIC has taken up the challenge of delivering 6000 TR modules for our partner Thales Alenia Space. After two years of intensive work, the first satellite COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation (CSG-1) has lifted off (on the 12/18/2019) from the Spaceport in French Guiana.

2019 has been a busy and successful year, but we now focus on 2020. This will be OMMIC’s 20th anniversary and we want to take this opportunity to share our microwave and RF adventure with you.

All OMMIC wishes you all the best for the new year; may it be a prosperous and joyful year!

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ABOUT OMMIC

Created in 2000 by spinning off Philipps, OMMIC specializes in the development and manufacturing of microwave circuits. OMMIC focusses on III – V technologies (GaN, GaAs and InP) and made the strategic choice to locate all its activities in France, on the historic site of Limeil-Brévannes, investing heavily in research. Today, OMMIC is the world leader in millimetric GaN technology, with superior power and unparalleled energy efficiency technology. The company is positioned to be one of the pillars of millimetric 5G. More information is available at www.ommic.com