interview RFMD
RFMD opens the doors of
its MBE facility Diversification: that’s the central pillar of RF Micro Devices’ growth strategy. To continue to execute on that front it is opening up its MBE facility and starting to offer various services that include shipments of arsenic- and phosphorous-based epiwafers. Richard Stevenson investigates.
R
F Micro Devices is renowned for its manufacture of power amplifiers. In the late
1990s it convinced handset makers to turn away from MESFET-based amplifiers and switch to its HBT-based variant. Since then it has gone from strength to strength to become one of the world’s largest manufacturers of power amplifiers, which it churns out in-house on a 6-inch line equipped with multi-wafer MBE tools.
While there is no denying that RFMD’s fame derives from its manufacture of billions of HBTs at its Greensboro, NC, headquarters, it is wrong to think of this company as just a captive GaAs chipmaker. Since 2003 it has been outsourcing growth of InGaP HBTs – it now has several established suppliers of MOCVD-grown epiwafers – and during the last few years it has added another string to its bow, GaN. The company continues to expand its portfolio of wide bandgap RF products, and last year it started to offer foundry services for this technology, including fabrication of GaN-on-SiC wafers to customer-specific circuit designs.
The company’s diversification strategy has taken another significant stride this year: The introduction of MBE- related epitaxial products and services, including ultra- high vacuum cleaning services. Profitable new revenue streams could result from this move, leading to a good return on the company’s substantial investment in capital equipment.
“Our offerings include working with customers to develop epitaxial structures and MBE growth conditions; the delivery of epiwafers grown to exact customer specifications; and designing epitaxial DOEs [design of experiments],” explains Robert Van Buskirk, president of RFMD’s multi-market products group.
RFMD’s MBE services are available to all. There is no minimum order, so start-ups and small companies will not be put off working with this RF giant. And RFMD’s proven
pedigree in high volume manufacturing makes it an appealing option for far bigger players looking to off-load epiwafer growth, or qualify an external material supplier that can supplement internal manufacture during peak periods.
The battle ahead If RFMD is to have significant success in this new venture, it will have to tender and win MBE-based epiwafer supply contracts. The strongest competition will surely come from IQE, an epiwafer supplier with large MBE facilities in Singapore and Bethlehem, PA, that has experience in producing material for RF applications in high volume, thanks in part to its contract with Anadigics.
The Greensboro outfit is certainly up for the challenge of competing in the epiwafer supply market. It is no stranger to high-volume manufacture, and Van Buskirk points out that the company can draw on its experiences associated with developing several generations of epitaxial structures that have been instrumental in the creation of one of the most successful RF companies in the world.
October 2010
www.compoundsemiconductor.net 27
An RFMD technician loads
substrates in preparation for epitaxial growth
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133