Gallium nitride, the semiconductor of choice for 5G electronics and large search radars, is on the cusp of transitioning into fire-control radar of U.S. fighter aircraft, promising the single largest leap in performance since the active, electronically scanned array revolution in the late 1990s.A technological shift from traveling-wave tubes to gallium arsenide (GaAs) chips enabled the packaging of active, electronically scanned arrays (AESA) into the cramped nose radomes of fighters two decades ago.Now far more powerful gallium nitride (GaN) technology is finally approaching critical mass for the same application. Advanced fabrication techniques have increased the hardiness and lowered the cost of GaN semiconductors, paving the way to introduce the monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) chips of a new generation of airborne phased arrays.
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