HRL Achieves Manufacturing Milestone on 40-nm GaN-on-SiC

MALIBU, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--HRL Laboratories’ state-of-the-art T3L 40-nanometer (nm) gallium nitride (GaN) on silicon carbide (SiC) technology achieved Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRL) 6 through the Office of the Under Secretary of War. This milestone represents a significant step in the maturation of HRL’s advanced RF-GaN manufacturing technology for defense and high-performance commercial applications.

MRL 6 validation confirms the manufacturability of HRL’s 40nm T3L GaN-on-SiC technology on production-relevant fabrication flows, with repeatable process control and supply chain stability in alignment with U.S. Department of War manufacturing standards to support purchasing this technology for a variety of U.S. government programs.

Scaling Production

HRL is on-track to transition high-volume manufacturing of this technology to MACOM as announced in November 2025, while retaining low volume engineering foundry access and support for multi-project wafer (MPW) for qualified customers.

By coupling open-access MPW capability with a scalable production partner, HRL enables rapid prototyping of baseline and advanced variants of T3L GaN while simultaneously supporting high volume manufacturing. This is all accomplished within a unified ecosystem with a low barrier to entry.

“Reaching MRL 6 and defining high-volume transition to MACOM represent decisive steps toward sustainable domestic RF GaN production,” said Dr. Erdem Arkun, Group Manager at HRL Laboratories.

What’s Next

HRL has also established that the process is compatible with advanced heterogeneous integration and 3DHI (three-dimensional heterogeneous integration) architectures. This enables higher level integration with digital control electronics, beamforming networks and next generation radar and communications modules, reducing system size, weight, and power (SWaP) for critical defense and commercial systems.

"The GaN T3L process excels in enabling 3DHI which drives next-generation array systems by meeting the growing demands for higher performance, compact designs and energy efficiency in advanced electronic systems," added Dr. Andrea Arias-Purdue, Principal Investigator at HRL Laboratories.

HRL is open to leveraging this manufacturing baseline and partnering with interested entities to integrate this technology into higher level assemblies to realize differentiating solutions and advancing technological capabilities for critical defense and commercial applications. Please reach out via email at ganmpw (at) hrl (dot) com.

HRL Foundry History

Since 2019, HRL’s open foundry has offered GaN processes to fabricate commercial and defense customer designs. HRL also offers design and high-frequency testing as a service and has a catalog of high-frequency monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs). The company is actively fielding requests for higher level integration and prototyping projects.

HRL Laboratories, LLC, California (www.hrl.com) pioneers the next frontiers of physical and information science. Delivering transformative technologies in automotive, aerospace and defense, HRL advances the critical missions of its customers. As a private company owned jointly by Boeing and GM, HRL is a source of innovations that advance the state of the art in profound and far-reaching ways.