MACOM has been quite busy, acquiring Mindspeed Technologies at the end of 2013 (see MACOM Acquires Mindspeed Technologies) and now announcing its acquisition of Nitronex. This latest move is expected to strengthen MACOM’s gallium-nitride (GaN) portfolio, giving it GaN-on-silicon epitaxial and pendeoepitaxial semiconductor process technologies and materials. MACOM purchased Nitronex from GaAs Labs for approximately $26 million.
Nitronex has leveraged its technology to offer GaN-on-silicon RF discrete devices and monolithic-microwave integrated circuits (MMICs). Those solutions provide high device linearity and output power, making them ideal for high-bandwidth communications like community access television (CATV), broadband radio, and wireless infrastructure as well as radar and industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) applications. MACOM hopes the acquisition will offer customers greater flexibility and increase the use of GaN-on-silicon technology across the commercial, aerospace, and defense industries.
