Anritsu is pleased to announce that the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), one of Korea’s leading research institutes, has selected Anritsu’s Broadband Vector Network Analyzer (VNA) VectorStar™ ME7838G for the characterization and design verification of high-frequency devices using GaN MMICs. By deploying the ME7838G, ETRI has established an evaluation platform for millimeter-wave and sub-THz applications, improving measurement reproducibility and enabling reliable design verification.

As next-generation communications technologies advance, device evaluation is expanding into millimeter-wave and sub-THz frequency ranges. To improve design accuracy and performance prediction for GaN MMIC-based device development, ETRI conducts broadband characterization that covers not only the operating frequency band but also harmonic frequency ranges. On-wafer measurements, which evaluate device characteristics directly on the wafer while excluding the effects of packaging and mounting, are widely used for this purpose. However, in millimeter-wave and sub-THz on-wafer measurements, probe contact conditions and measurement-system effects can easily cause measurement variation, making it a challenge to establish an evaluation platform that enables highly reliable comparison and verification between design and measured data.

To address these challenges, ETRI deployed the ME7838G. The ME7838G supports single-sweep measurements up to 220 GHz and enables evaluation from millimeter-wave to sub-THz frequencies on a single platform. Since broadband evaluation can be performed using a single measurement system, ETRI established an on-wafer evaluation platform that enables measurements from millimeter-wave to sub-THz frequencies under consistent test conditions, without switching measurement systems between frequency bands. This provided an environment in which measurement data acquired across a wide bandwidth could be compared with and analyzed against design data under consistent conditions and with a high degree of accuracy.

Anritsu recognizes that measurement technologies that combine broadband characterization with high measurement reproducibility will become increasingly important for high-frequency device development for 6G and next-generation satellite communications. Anritsu will continue to support customers’ semiconductor research, development, and evaluation through its test and measurement technologies.

Further details of this case study “Establishing a High-Frequency Evaluation Platform to Support Foundry-Grade Quality”
This case study describes how the high-frequency evaluation platform established by ETRI contributes to improving design verification and performance prediction accuracy for GaN MMICs.