BALTIMORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- TriQuint Semiconductor, Inc. (NASDAQ:TQNT), a leading RF solutions supplier and technology innovator, today announced several milestones related to its industry leading Gallium Nitride (GaN) developments. Together with customers and various US Government agencies, TriQuint is working to define the future of RF, where it believes GaN will play a key role.

"These are exciting times in the GaN development cycle and TriQuint is pushing the envelope by demonstrating key achievements in the path to broad industry consumption. We have standard products available today and continue to enhance the reliability, manufacturability and performance of our GaN process technology. We intend to set a high bar for what customers should expect of GaN technology, customer service and semiconductor material experience," said Thomas Cordner, TriQuint Vice President.

GaN Performance — Together with researchers from the University of Notre Dame, TriQuint put its GaN NEXT Process, which is being developed with funds from DARPA and not yet commercially available, through stringent performance tests. The results of the testing demonstrated performance twice that of recently-claimed ‘best' performance by University of California Santa Barbara. The paper, entitled, "State-of-the-Art E/D GaN Technology Based on an InAlN/AlN/GaN Heterostructure" itemizes Ft>240GHz compared to the UCSB claim of Ft=120GHz. The paper also details Enhancement / Depletion integration with record DC and RF performances. The paper can be requested from the technical resources for GaN page.

GaN Foundry — TriQuint's commercial GaN foundry offering is now available on 100mm wafers in Limited Release. This release is designed for well-qualified customers with available resources prior to becoming a Full Release process. The latter will include the full complement of associated models, tools and support traditionally offered to TriQuint customers. TriQuint's GaN process technology has also been certified as a Department of Defense Category 1A ‘Trusted Foundry' ensuring customers that TriQuint's GaN process meets stringent product control and secure handling standards during all stages of circuit fabrication. Accreditation also creates an avenue for increased high security monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) business.

GaN Standard Products Availability - TriQuint has released several standard products based on its GaN process. The following products enable excellent RF performance and include:

• The T1G4005528-FS is an innovative discrete RF power transistor with exceptional performance from DC to 3.5 GHz. Ideal for narrow and wideband applications, the T1G4005528-FS is well suited for military and civilian radar, professional and military radio communications systems, test instrumentation, avionics and wideband or narrowband amplifiers.
• The T1G6001528-Q3 is a packaged GaN discrete RF power transistor offering substantial wideband coverage, high PAE, gain, and more than 18 Watts of output power and greater than 50% efficiency across an exceptionally wide bandwidth (DC to 6 GHz.). This multifaceted device can be used in professional and military radio communication systems, jammers, military and civilian radar, test instrumentation, avionics and wideband or narrowband amplifiers.
• The TGA2576 is a power amplifier that delivers 30W of saturated output power in the 2.5-6 GHz range and typically offers 30% PAE and 25dBm of small signal gain. The PA is well suited for counter-IED (C-IED) and other EW (electronic weapons) systems.

GaN Innovation — TriQuint is working on several ongoing research contracts with government agencies to further its development of GaN for broad commercial use.

• Defense Production Act Title III — Announced in November 2010 and granted by US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), this $17.5M, multi-year contract is designed to develop manufacturing that increases yield, lowers costs and improves time-to-market cycles for defense and commercial GaN integrated circuits.
• Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Contract - Awarded by the AFRL, this program will develop new GaN modules for UAVs that will extend the range and capabilities of drone aircraft that are used for reconnaissance missions over Afghanistan, Iraq and other regions.
• DARPA ‘NEXT' - Announced in October 2009 and awarded by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), this $16.2M, multi-year contract funds the development of complex, high dynamic range circuits for future defense and aerospace applications.
  • This contract was recognized at the inaugural 2011 CS Europe Conference with a CS Europe Industry Award in the R&D category.

TriQuint is available to discuss progress on its GaN development efforts and range of other products for Base Station, Point to Point, Optical, Cable TV / FTTH, and Mobile Device applications at IMS 2011 June 5-10 in Baltimore, Maryland.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This TriQuint Semiconductor, Inc. (NASDAQ:TQNT) press release contains forward-looking statements made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. The cautionary statements made in this press release should be read as being applicable to all related statements wherever they appear. Statements containing such words as ‘key,' ‘pushing the envelope,' ‘milestones,' ‘twice,' ‘record,' ‘ensuring,' or similar terms are considered to contain uncertainty and are forward-looking statements. A number of factors affect TriQuint's operating results and could cause its actual future results to differ materially from any results indicated in this press release or in any other forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, TriQuint including, but not limited to: those associated with the unpredictability and volatility of customer acceptance of and demand for our products and technologies, the ability of our production facilities and those of our vendors to meet demand, the ability of our production facilities and those of our vendors to produce products with yields sufficient to maintain profitability, as well as the other "Risk Factors" set forth in TriQuint's most recent 10-Q report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This and other reports can be found on the SEC web site, www.sec.gov. A reader of this release should understand that these and other risks could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations expressed / implied in forward-looking statements.

FACTS ABOUT TRIQUINT

Founded in 1985, TriQuint Semiconductor (NASDAQ:TQNT) is a leading global provider of innovative RF solutions and foundry services for the world's top communications, defense and aerospace companies. People and organizations around the world need real-time, all-the-time connections; TriQuint products help reduce the cost and increase the performance of connected mobile devices and the networks that deliver critical voice, data and video communications. With the industry's broadest technology portfolio, recognized R&D leadership, and expertise in high-volume manufacturing, TriQuint creates standard and custom products using gallium arsenide (GaAs), gallium nitride (GaN), surface acoustic wave (SAW) and bulk acoustic wave (BAW) technologies. The company has ISO9001-certified manufacturing facilities in the U.S., production in Costa Rica, and design centers in North America and Germany. For more information, visit www.triquint.com.

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TriQuint Semiconductor, Inc.
Shannon Rudd, Strategic MarCom Manager, +1-503-615-9407
E-mail: srudd@tqs.com
or
Mark Andrews, Strategic MarCom Manager, +1-407-884-3404
Mobile: +1-407-353-8727
E-mail: mandrews@tqs.com

Source: TriQuint Semiconductor, Inc

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