This paper presents activities in the frame of the ESAmmWGaN-project “Investigation and preliminary characterization of component building blocks needed to establish a European mm-wave GaN foundry process” for Ka-Band up to V-Band operation. The investigation of the gate metallisation exhibited an improvement in terms of breakdown-characteristics and reliability. By nitride engineering an improvement on device and MMIC-level could be experimentally shown. The main contribution of this improvement was the reduction of parasitic components of the active device. Failure analysis by TEM confirms the improved gate-electrode. The lifetime could be improved to 106h with an estimated channel temperature of 125°C with a failure criterion of 10% IDSS-degradation. MMICs from Ka to W-band were successfully processed, e.g. a broadband MMIC in E-band with 1W output-power between 71 and 86 GHz makes scalable multi-Gigabit communication links very feasible – more selected MMICs in different frequency bands will be shown in the presentation.

With the emergence of Gallium Nitride as a mainstream technology within Europe and its justified importance as an enabler for future Space missions, this presentation gives an overview of current GaN related activities in the RF Equipment and Technology Section of the Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality, of the European Space Agency (ESA). To complement the ongoing space evaluation and qualification programmes at device level performed by our ESA colleagues in the Components Section, we are instigating and managing GaN development programmes at the circuit, module and equipment level where key design drivers are minimisation of unit mass, volume and footprint, and maximisation of power, efficiency, linearity and bandwidth. Work will be presented from a range of different technology streams in the fields of Navigation, Telecommunications, and Earth Observation where the overall goal is that the right technology is available at the right maturity level at the right time.

MiGaNSOS (H2020 Project) has several objectives:
- Assess and space-evaluate a “state of the art” GaN/Si process for open foundry use. The process is the 100 nm GaN/Si technology developed by OMMIC; a preliminary evaluation is also performed on a 60 nm GaN/Si process. Realization of test vehicles dedicated to the evaluation process (DEC, RIC, TCV) and basic functionalities as LNA, HPA and SPDT and their Single-Chip integration (SCFE) in Ka band is scheduled.
- Demonstration of the simultaneous use of 100 and 60 nm GaN/Si technologies.
- Demonstration of future applications of above technologies in advanced space equipment (a Ka Band SAR antenna).
The Project consortium, led by University of Roma "Tor Vergata" (UTV) is formed by VTT research centre of Finland (VTT), Thales Alenia Space Italy (TAS) and OMMIC (OMM).
The project started on November 2017 and, at the workshop, it is supposed to provide the first results.

A GaN based Q Band Linearized Solid State Power Amplifier (Q Band SSPA), has been proposed by Thales Alenia Space Italia as part of the study KALÒS - DEVAQ funded by European Space Agency (ESA). Based on HTS system requirements a solution with 20 W output Psat has been considered. The SSPA has been conceived as combination of a number of GaN Based MMIC HPA inserted into structures implemented in WR22 with a clam shell approach. High RF power small dimensions MMIC have developed with GaN process D01GH provided by OMMIC in two versions: A 2W and a 4W both operating in a 37.5 to 42.5 GHz frequency range. Measurement at 42 GHz show a Psat of 30 dBm with a gain of 20 dB and 28% PAE and a Psat of 33 dBm with gain of 21 dB and 29% PAE for the 2W and 4W versions respectively.

The MUSTANG program is an European integrated project dedicated to the development of a new generation of integrated circuits (MMICs) based on advanced Gallium Nitride (GaN) HEMT technology. The main goal of the program is to allow end-users of the said GaN technology to take a maximum benefit from the inherent physical properties of this material. The lessons learnt from previous programs, KORRIGAN and MAGNUS, to master this new technology, especially in terms of making the right trade-offs between output power and PAE for HPAs, and gain, noise figure, insertion loss and power handling for LNAs and switches, will be the base of MUSTANG. The use of a stabilised GaN process line, able to deal with frequencies up to Ka-band (the UMS GH15 process) will provide the designers with another very strong base line in terms of models, design rules and capabilities in sharing foundry runs to minimize the cost.