Prospective and issues for GaN microwave electronics into space satellites

Abstract

On the very last months, gallium nitride (GaN) technology has made a remarked breakthrough in the world of microwave electronics with the announcement of commercially available power transistors. Those striking news follow several publicized results that had been published since few years. How this GaN technology would impact space- borne units is now a priority concern. Although the power capability of GaN technology is the first obvious profit, GaN could also be used for other applications like low noise amplifiers, mixers and probably more. The high sustainable temperature of GaN transistors is most striking advantage for in-flight use. This is connected to packaging design which is also experiencing a lot of activities and quick progresses. Of course, space application is dependent upon the full demonstration of reliability and this constitutes another field of investigation. Finally, our very first, promising, experimental results are presented: they open wide the road a revolution inside space-borne electronics: the rise of GaN.