Financial Releases
TriQuint GaN Success Leads to Phase 3 DARPA R&D Contract
HILLSBORO, Oregon & RICHARDSON, Texas (USA) – June 2, 2009 – TriQuint Semiconductor (NASDAQ: TQNT), a leading RF products manufacturer and foundry services provider, today announced that it has been awarded leadership of Phase III of a multi-year gallium nitride (GaN) research and development contract by the Army Research Laboratory (ARL). The contract, funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), was awarded based on TriQuint surpassing Phase II goals. The overall program is designed to develop new high power, wideband GaN amplifiers for a range of defense applications.
TriQuint began execution of the Phase II gallium nitride program (valued at $15.8 million) in 2005 and has achieved major milestones including improved power density, efficiency and device ruggedness. The next phase of the program (valued at $16.5 million) seeks to extend device reliability for 48V operation while increasing operational lifetime and extending performance to cover the high end of contracted frequency ranges. This phase is expected to be completed in two years. The ARL in Adelphi, MD is the contracting agency (W911QX-05-C-0087).
TriQuint has been a leader in gallium nitride research for both defense and civilian applications since 1999. In addition to its military design and manufacturing work, TriQuint has released gallium nitride amplifiers for wireless communications and a wide range of other applications along with offering commercial GaN foundry services beginning in 2008.
“TriQuint is very excited to continue its leadership of a highly qualified team in the development of this technology. In Phase II, we developed a high performance, reliable gallium nitride process with excellent reproducibility and high yield,” said Cathy Lee, TriQuint’s Phase III program manager. “Since the program began we have achieved key milestones including 48V operation and superb high frequency performance.”
Gallium nitride remains one of the key process technologies expected to lead next-generation amplifier semiconductor design due to its inherent properties including high voltage operation, greater power density (more power per square millimeter) and efficiency. The development of GaN-based devices is leading to new generations of smaller, more efficient amplifiers that reduce system size, weight and power consumption.
TriQuint is the prime Phase III contractor and is teamed with BAE Systems, IQE-RF Corporation and Lockheed Martin. II-VI Incorporated remains the program’s primary supplier of high quality SiC substrates. University partners Dr. Michael Shur of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Dr. Jesus del Alamo of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology continue their roles in device physics, reliability and modeling. Key program tasks include material optimization, device and MMIC development. The contract emphasizes reliability, yield, uniformity and reproducibility. The program also includes a MMIC validation process.
TriQuint is a leading manufacturer of high-performance, high-reliability integrated circuits for communications and radar programs with broad applications across defense and aerospace systems. TriQuint also serves consumer wireless markets such as mobile phones, wireless LAN and GPS. TriQuint’s expertise in gallium arsenide, high-voltage GaAs pHEMT, gallium nitride (GaN), surface acoustic and bulk acoustic wave (SAW / BAW), low-cost packaged devices and monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) has made the company a leading supplier of RF system components to Boeing Company, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and other major defense contractors.
For more information about TriQuint products for defense, aerospace and other major markets, visit www.triquint.com. Register for product updates and our newsletter at: www.triquint.com/rf.
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 ‘leading’, ‘exceptional’, ‘high efficiency’, ‘key role’, ‘leading supplier’, 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, we “Connect the Digital World to the Global Network”™ by supplying high-performance RF modules, components and foundry services to the world's leading communications companies. Specifically, TriQuint supplies products to four out of the top five mobile phone manufacturers, and is a leading gallium arsenide (GaAs) supplier to major defense and space contractors. TriQuint creates standard and custom products using advanced processes that include gallium arsenide, surface acoustic wave (SAW) and bulk acoustic wave (BAW) technologies to serve diverse markets including wireless handsets, laptops, GPS/PND, base stations, broadband communications and military. TriQuint is also the lead researcher in a multi-year DARPA program to develop advanced gallium nitride (GaN) amplifiers. TriQuint, as named by Strategy Analytics1, is the number-three worldwide leader in GaAs devices and the world’s largest commercial GaAs foundry. TriQuint has ISO9001 certified manufacturing facilities in Oregon, Texas, and Florida and a production plant in Costa Rica; design centers are located in North America and Germany. Visit TriQuint at www.triquint.com/rf to receive new product information and to register for our newsletters.
1 Announced February 2009 and May 2009, respectively.
Dr. Gailon Brehm
Director – Defense & Aerospace Product Marketing
TriQuint Semiconductor, Inc.
Tel: +1 (972) 994-3896
Fax: +1 (972) 994-8504
E-mail: gbrehm@tqs.com
Media Contact:
Mark Andrews
Strategic Marketing Communications Manager
TriQuint Semiconductor, Inc.
Tel: +1 (407) 884-3404
Mobile: +1 (407) 353-8727
E-mail: mandrews@tqs.com