WIN Semiconductors Corp of Taoyuan City, Taiwan – the largest pure-play compound semiconductor wafer foundry – has developed a gallium arsenide (GaAs) PIN diode MMIC process for high-frequency switch and monolithic power limiter applications. Fabricated on 150mm semi-insulating GaAs wafers, the 3µm i-layer PIN diodes are said to offer several performance advantages including near-constant junction capacitance through 50GHz, low insertion loss, and high isolation required for high-frequency applications.
The PIN3-00 GaAs PIN diode MMIC process uses a humidity-robust architecture with low-k dielectric crossovers, and three interconnect metal layers with up to 7µm-thick gold (Au) metallization for high Q-factor passive elements. Standard through-wafer vias enable flexible ground connections and optional RF hot via supports placement of RF ports on the backside of the MMIC.
“This advanced PIN diode MMIC fabrication process offers significant design flexibility for multiple applications and end-markets,” says senior VP David Danzilio. “The PIN3-00 process can be used for receive-path limiters in radar Tx/Rx modules, power switching as well as high-frequency 5G switch functions,” he adds. “WIN is the first compound semiconductor foundry to offer this high-performance technology on 150mm wafers, and at the scale required for high volume markets.”
