Boston, MA 04/02/2014 (wallstreetpr) – RF Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:RFMD) announced signing of USD 9.7 million agreement with the Airforce Research laboratory for transfer and production of 0.14 micron Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit using Gallium Nitrate (GaN).
GaN technology supports a wide range of frequencies with high voltage management capacity over a relatively smaller footprint. A 6-inch GaN wafer offers 2.5-times more useable area over the currently available 4-inch platforms. Millimeter wave GaN enables are seen as the best combination of key performance parameters such as power gain, bandwidth and efficiency for applications in the range of DC to over 100GHz.
This contract allows RF Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:RFMD) to establish an industry first of sorts. This would allow creation of the first 6 inch millimeter wave using Gallium Nitrate on Silicon Carbide Process beyond 100 Ghz. This would significantly enhance the ability to develop affordable monolithic microwave integrated circuit technology which not only has military application (radar, electronic warfare, communications) but also commercial application in cable TV networks, land mobile radio and mobile telephony infrastructure.
This deal could be accretive to the company’s growth prospects as the GaN microelectronics market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 28% to reach USD 334 million by 2017.
Triquint RFMD merger is considered a positive
Since the February 2014 announcement where the USD 1.5 billion RF Micro Devices Inc. –TriQuint Semiconductor (NASDAQ:TQNT) Semiconductor Inc. was announced, both the stocks have seen appreciation and have resulted in benefiting their investors.
The price appreciation is being attributed to the synergies becoming increasingly visible with respect to not only cost reduction and economies of scale, but complementary customer profile with RF Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:RFMD) getting a larger access to supply chain of companies like Apple and Samsung. The transaction would result in creating a new company with equal rights for existing shareholders of RF Micro and Triquint.
