Taiwan’s Win Semiconductors Debuts 0.12μm GaN Foundry Process
The process is targeted for high-power applications across the K-Band to V-Band frequencies
By Mark LaPedus
Taiwan’s Win Semiconductors, which bills itself as the world’s largest pure-play compound semiconductor foundry vendor, has launched a new 0.12μm gallium nitride (GaN) foundry process.
The process, called NP12-1B, is a 0.12μm gate-length depletion-mode (D-mode) GaN High Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMT) technology. The process makes use of silicon carbide (SiC) substrates.
Targeted for high-power applications across the K-Band to V-Band frequencies, NP12-1B enables the development of high-power front-end devices for next-generation RF and microwave systems.
Gallium nitride (GaN), a III/V compound that combines gallium and nitrogen, is a wide bandgap semiconductor material. Devices based on wide bandgap semiconductor materials can operate at higher voltages, frequencies and temperatures, as compared to conventional silicon-based chips.
Silicon has a bandgap of 1.1 eV, while GaN is 3.4 eV. SiC has a bandgap of 3.3 eV. “GaN stands out thanks to its high-current, high-voltage capabilities that enable it to be versatile enough for a wide range of demanding applications,” according to Qorvo, a supplier of RF devices and other products.
GaN-based chips are used in various applications, such as power electronics, RF systems and others. In RF applications, GaN-based devices are ideal “in everything from 5G communications to automotive, lighting, radar, satellites and more,” according to Qorvo.
Qorvo also provides both GaN and gallium arsenide (GaAs) foundry services. BAE, GlobalFoundries, HRL, MACOM, X-Fab, Vanguard, TSMC, Win and others provide GaN foundry services.
Formed in 1999, Taiwan’s Win Semiconductors was the world’s first pure-play 6-inch GaAs foundry vendor. Besides GaAs, Win also provides optoelectronic device fabrication services. In GaN, the company offers various processes. Previously, its most advanced GaN process was a 0.15μm technology.
Win Semiconductors new NP12-1B technology is a 0.12μm process. It is designed to meet the requirements for high-power RF applications, including microwave and millimeter-wave communication systems, radar systems (including airborne, shipborne, and ground-based), electronic warfare and avionics, wireless infrastructure, ultra-wideband and broadband systems, and test and measurement equipment.
The NP12-1B technology provides a 28-volt operation with linearity, power density and efficiency for high-power applications across the K-Band to V-Band frequencies. The technology’s source-coupled field plate design ensures a gate-to-drain breakdown voltage of 120 V, supporting high power density and system reliability. NP12-1B is available with the Enhanced Moisture Ruggedness option, which provides humidity resistance for use in plastic packaging.
NP12-1B is supported by a process design kit (PDK) featuring both large-signal and small-signal models. NP12-1B will be available for high volume production in Q3 2025.