MMIC GaAs Foundry in Israel

The increase demand for MMIC based systems in ISRAEL, coupled with the long lead time between specification, design and chip fabrication/realization, led us here in ISRAEL to decide and build a National MMIC Foundry. The Fab which is part of ELTA Electronics Industries, was funded both by ELTA and the Government of ISRAEL. The 4 year project started in 1994 and has as a goal to achieve a list of different device technology. Several processes are currently being developed, among them are the 0.5 micron Ion Implantation POWER MESFET and 0.25 micron e_beam lithography Power P-HEMT The ISRAELI MMIC fab is tailored for the Companies in Israel. The FAB has 750 sq.-m of clean room class 100-1000, capable of running 2000-3000 wafers per year. There wasn´t any know-how in ELTA or Israel of MMIC processes, or how to run a MMIC fab, We had to develop everything from the beginning. This paper will review, the sequence of events that led us to build the MMIC FAB, our first MMIC prototype, type of equipment we use, the process we develop, examples of results in terms of design, technology and measurements will be described. Obstacles encounter in the development and their solutions will be presented, as well as unsolved problems.