GaN Single-Chip Front-Ends from S-Band to mm-Waves for Space and Defense

The increasing maturity and resulting yield and uniformity of Gallium Nitride MMIC processes is allowing the integration of front-end functionalities into a single chip. High-power and low-noise amplification, as well as switching and routing subsystems are typically integrated, resulting in extremely compact chips with improved performance, and providing in turn, flexible and unprecedented SAR instruments and active antennas. In the contribution, a few single-chip front-ends will be presented, realized in different technologies and for different operating frequencies, from S-band up to Ka-band, to be applied in defense and space applications.