Critical Need
State-of-the-art defense radar systems and 5G telecommunication networks have one common limitation: heat. The power amplifiers inside these systems, which are necessary to provide a signal with enough strength to reach its destination, are incapable of regulating the heat they generate at high power levels. As a result, their performance is hampered, and the system's signal is weakened. This weak signal limits radar system range and reduces 5G base station coverage. As both radar systems and 5G networks aim for higher frequencies, these constraints will only worsen.

Technology Vision
Heat generation and management in power amplifiers are defined by the materials with which the amplifier is built. With this in mind, Soctera is building the world's first power amplifiers on the aluminum nitride platform. Aluminum nitride's thermal conductivity is significantly higher than that of silicon and gallium nitride, from which conventional power amplifiers are made. Aluminum nitride allows the power amplifier to more effectively remove heat from the device as it’s being generated. This innovation also enables more efficient device performance at millimeter-wave frequencies, reducing the amount of heat that is generated in the first place.

Potential for Impact
Aluminum nitride-platform power amplifiers will enable millimeter-wave frequency communications to cover longer distances, simplifying the deployment and reducing the cost of future telecom networks, and improving radar detection capabilities. In the long term, Soctera envisions the power amplifier as just one of many electronic components offered on the aluminum nitride platform. Electronic filters, high-current complementary devices (for computational logic), and waveguides can be integrated monolithically on aluminum nitride—a tantalizing opportunity. This unprecedented level of integration will open a wide range of new application spaces for a host of high-speed communication systems.

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