2
© 2019 Cree, Inc. All rights reserved. Wolfspeed® and the Wolfspeed logo are registered trademarks of Cree, Inc.
WOLFSPEED.COM
Lockheed Martin uses the latest MMIC technology, GaN on SiC, as it provides significant advantages for active
phased array radar systems, including higher power density, greater eiciency and improved reliability over other
technologies. Early on in the process, Lockheed Martin conducted more than 5,000 hours (or nearly seven months)
of accelerated stress testing, and demonstrated with greater than 99% confidence that Wolfspeed’s GaN HPAs would
meet the long-term reliability goals for the Space Fence program, which is integral to meeting the project’s eiciency
and availability goals.
“These test results represent the culmination of more than a decade of shared investment in GaN technology,”
Steve Bruce, vice president, Advanced Systems at Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Training, said when
announcing the successful reliability testing of Wolfspeed’s GaN HPAs. “GaN HPAs provide significant advantages
for active phased-array radar systems like Space Fence, including higher power density, greater eiciency, and
improved reliability over previous technologies,” he added.
5G Readiness
S-Band radar systems, such as those used in Space Fence, work at similar frequencies as those being developed
for sub 6 GHz 5G systems. Although the technology is similar, radar applications are actually driven harder for
saturated power, and are stressed more, than is expected in 5G systems. In addition to Space Fence, Wolfspeed also
works with other demanding military applications such as radar, jammers and communication systems critical to
homeland defense.
“[Wolfspeed parent company] Cree is a US government trusted foundry, and if it’s rugged enough for their most
critical applications, Wolfspeed’s GaN on SiC is rugged enough for 5G,” says John Palmour, co-founder and CTO of
Wolfspeed. “None of these environments can aord to fail, and that’s why they choose solutions from Wolfspeed.”
In fact, Wolfspeed maintains a failure-in-time (FIT) rate of 5-per-billion device hours, illustrating the industry-leading
reliability and performance of Wolfspeed’s GaN-on-SiC devices.
“Our high-performance commercial GaN products have been fielded for many years in a variety of military and
commercial applications, and has matured enough to support the mission-critical 24/7/365 coverage required by the
Space Fence system and other mission-critical applications like 5G,” says Jim Milligan, senior director of Wolfspeed’s
Foundry, Aerospace and Defense Business Unit.
Is Wolfspeed’s GaN on SiC prepared for everything the 5G market can throw at it?
Indeed, all systems are a go for launch.