The Agency for Defense Development (ADD, Director Jongseung Park) has laid the foundation for the deployment of advanced weapons by developing a domestically produced gallium nitride (GaN) power amplifier.

The Agency for Defense Development (ADD) announced on the 22nd that it has succeeded in securing domestic technology for mass production of gallium nitride (GaN) power amplifiers.

Gallium nitride power amplifiers are semiconductor components that have the characteristics of enabling high output with high efficiency, and can be installed in advanced weapon systems, including radars that emit high-intensity energy in a short period of time.

In particular, gallium nitride power amplifiers are components installed in active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars for surveillance and reconnaissance and 5th generation mobile communication equipment, and play a key role in stably operating high output power.

The achievement of securing mass production process technology for gallium nitride power amplifiers, which had previously relied on overseas imports due to a lack of domestic technological capabilities, was achieved through a leading core technology project conducted by KAIST from 2015 to 2020.

From the design of gallium nitride power amplifiers to the development of process technology and mass production technology, finally, nitride is applied to radar transmission and reception modules.Until developing packaging technology that can apply gallium power amplifiers, KAIST has maintained close contact and cooperation with industry, academia, and research institutes in the electrical and electronic fields.

In particular, the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) has added expertise by taking charge of the technology to design the device structure to satisfy the electrical performance of the device.

The gallium nitride power amplifier developed this time is only mass-produced by a few companies in the U.S., Europe, and Japan, and has been strictly managed as a strategic material for national security and subject to export controls, which has resulted in many restrictions on domestic defense research and development. However, with domestic development now possible, it is expected to contribute to broadening the horizon of weapon system development for independent national defense.

Going forward, the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) will continue to collaborate with industry, academia, and research institutes with excellent research and development capabilities to ensure that gallium nitride power amplifier technology developed with domestic technology can be smoothly utilized not only in the defense sector but also in the civilian sector.