DARPA, Raytheon developing diamond-based GaN microchips

A new, flexible silicon-on-polymer chip developed by the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and American Semiconductor has a memory capability 7,000 times higher than the current slate of flexible, integrated circuits on the market. (US Air Force)

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is teaming with Raytheon to develop new diamond-based substrates for gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors in a bid to push high-powered radar and radio frequency (RF) communication applications down to the tactical level.

A wide-bandgap semiconductor known for its extreme durability and stable transmission speeds, GaN-enabled microelectronics (ME) systems have routinely performed better than comparable silicon-based ME systems. “It is really the heartbeat of our systems, in terms of RF performance … whether [the] systems are radars, or [electronic warfare] or missiles”, according to Matt Tyhach, Raytheon's mission area director for next-generation sensors and microelectronics.