As part of its long term strategy Farran is actively devoting resources into new product development. Some of these projects are space-related and performed in close partnership with the European Space Agency as well as a variety of European partners, including several leading research institutes and foundries offering state-of-the-art technologies.

Current development projects include:

-          a) the design of a 390 GHz mixer using the membrane Schottky process technology developed at the Tyndall National Institute, Cork, Ireland

-          b) the design, fabrication and testing of millimetre-wave multipliers and mixers using the UMS Schottky technology and post-processing steps performed at the Tyndall National Institute.  

Additional ESA-funded projects on Schottky products and mmw-LNAs are being finalized and should start in 2009Q1. All these activities provide excellent opportunities to extend our product range in order to better serve the mmw and sub-mmw market. Farran is therefore continuously looking for more product development opportunities and fruitful collaboration. Should you wish to explore possible synergies with your development team please do not hesitate to contact our engineering or sales departments.

a)       This ESA-funded activity aims at developing a subharmonic mixer operating at 390 GHz based on the transverse diode Schottky process developed at the Tyndall National Institute (TNI). The diodes and embedding circuitry will be integrated onto a single membrane in order to reduce dielectric losses and parasitic modes at those frequencies. The quasi-transverse diode concept (see Figure below) developed by John Pike at TNI can offer very small junction areas using conventional lithography as well as the possibility of fabricating both varactors and mixer diodes on the same wafer. Both aspects make this particular technology very attractive for mmw and sub-mmw applications.

b)   The start of this activity originates from an ESA initiative to improve the performance of commercially available European Schottky dides in the mmw and sub-mmw ranges. Performance improvement will be achieved by modifying the UMS Schottky architecture as well as using some post-process options offered by the Tyndall National Institute. The deliverables of this project include doubler, triplers and mixers operating between 75 and 400 GHz. The end of the project is scheduled in June 2010.