NXP advances 5G with new US GaN fab in Arizona

“Today marks a critical milestone for NXP. By building this incredible facility and tapping key talent in Arizona, we are able to bring focus to GaN technology as part of driving the next generation of 5G base station infrastructure,” says CEO Kurt Sievers, in a press release detailing the opening. With 5G, the density of RF solutions required per antenna has exponentially increased – yet maintaining the same box size and reducing power consumption is more or less mandatory. GaN power transistors have emerged as the new gold standard to address these dueling requirements, delivering significant improvements in both power density and efficiency. NXP’s move to build an internal GaN fab was driven by its ability to achieve higher performance benefits through leveraging its core competency in cellular infrastructure design as well as its track record for high-volume manufacturing. Nearly 20 years of GaN development expertise and extensive wireless communication industry knowledge position NXP to compete in this next wave of cellular expansion for 5G. The fab is set to ramp quickly with NXP leveraging its Chandler-based team and their expertise in compound semiconductor manufacturing. The internal factory will serve as an innovation hub that facilitates collaboration between the fab and NXP’s onsite R&D team. In short, the company’s engineers can now more rapidly develop, validate and protect inventions for current and future generations of GaN devices, resulting in shorter cycle times for NXP GaN innovations. NXP’s new Chandler-based GaN fab is qualified now, with initial products ramping in the market and expected to reach full capacity by the end of 2020.