Altum RF, founded in 2018 by RF and microwave industry veterans, saw a gap in the market for high-performance microwave and millimeter-wave integrated circuits using the latest semiconductor technology. So, the company, with headquarters in Eindhoven, Netherlands, and offices in the US and Australia, established an expert R&D team and a global supply chain under an ISO 9001 quality framework. It focused on monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) products at frequencies up to 40 GHz, with plans to extend that to 125 GHz. The project focused on achieving a high-power, single-MMIC amplifier for microwave applications in the 1 to 20 GHz range. It aimed to bridge the gap between existing gallium arsenide amplifiers and legacy traveling wave tube solutions.
The company wanted to achieve output power of 10 W while maximizing the efficiency and bandwidth in an SMT packaged MMIC product. That would make it a compelling, unique offering to serve a variety of applications: test and measurement, aerospace and defense, and telecommunications. On top of this already challenging project, minimizing design iterations and getting to market quickly were crucial for Altum RF’s success as a new company.
