Burlington – October 24, 2026 -- GlobalFoundries (GF) has qualified RFGaN1, its first RF GaN-on-silicon technology for volume production on 200mm wafers. It has also qualified SLATE, a wafer-bonding technology that cuts RF die area by up to 45% with no loss in RF performance.
RFGaN1 runs at 12 to 28V across 1 to 15 GHz
The platform uses depletion-mode devices and targets sustained high output power and efficiency in satellite communications, cellular infrastructure and defense. Dan Denninghoff, Senior Director of RF GaN Product Line, said GaN has so far been a niche, high-budget option. GF argues that 200mm silicon manufacturing gives customers the cost structure and volume to build a supply chain around it instead of treating each design as a one-off.
Falcomm launched GaNdalph.ai at IMS 2026, an AI design tool with first-class support for RFGaN1. It is aimed at speeding up power amplifier design and deployment. Victoria Pereira, CEO of Otava RF, called the platform a foundation for adaptive RF front-ends in defense, 5G/6G and satellite markets.
Burlington fab and shuttle runs target GaN access barriers
GF identifies access and volume manufacturability as the main obstacles to GaN adoption. It offers early-access programs and GlobalShuttle multi-project wafer runs so designers can prototype before committing to production. Its 200mm fab in Burlington, Vermont is an Accredited Trusted Foundry, meeting U.S. government requirements for chips used in aerospace and defense systems. Denninghoff said that status is, for many applications, the reason a customer can use the platform at all.
SLATE on 9SW stacks RF components to save up to 45% die area
GF qualified SLATE in June on its 9SW RF-SOI platform. The technology bonds two wafers and folds large transistors across both, replacing flat layouts that consume board space. GF says antenna tuners are a key use case, because their switches must handle high voltage in a fraction of the previous footprint. Other targets include satellite terminals, IoT sensors and wearables.
GF and Cadence will hold a webinar on October 27 on 3D RF integration with SLATE on 9SW.
Nature Electronics paper reports sub-30 picosecond RF switch on commercial process
Mohammad Nikoo of Nanyang Technological University Singapore and Hua Wang, professor of electrical engineering at ETH Zurich, built a switch that uses displacement fields and quantum tunneling currents to carry the signal. The work was done while Nikoo was a postdoctoral researcher in Wang's IDEAS Group. The device was fabricated on GF's commercial RF-SOI platform through the GF University Partnership Program.
- Switching speeds below 30 picoseconds
- More than 10x higher power handling than conventional transistor-based switches on the same platform
- Significant improvements in linearity, with lower parasitics and higher switching frequencies
The team used a "zero-change" approach on an existing commercial process, pointing to a route to manufacturability. The authors name reconfigurable terahertz systems, next-generation wireless, satellite communications and advanced sensing as potential applications.