April 12, 2012 – PRNewswire — The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) gave Raytheon Company (NYSE:RTN) an 18-month, $1.8 million contract to develop next-generation gallium nitride (GaN) devices on diamond substrates, named Thermally Enhanced Gallium Nitride (TEGaN). The diamond packaging boosts GaN power handling capability by at least 3x, Raytheon reports.
Advanced transistors and monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) can use TEGaN to reduce thermal resistance, multiplying GaN performance.
The diamond substrates could reduce the cost, size, weight and power of defense electronics. The contract allows Raytheon to develop and vet TEGaN for technology insertion into military systems. Raytheon uses GaN in major radar programs, and enables