Technology Today issue 1 2008 - Raytheon

onTechnology
Frequency Control Solutions Center
Delivers Award-Winning RF Performance
Throughout Raytheon
When a Raytheon system must both
generate and precisely control radio frequencies
(RF), characteristics such as noise,
frequency stability, bandwidth and power
will affect overall performance. The
Raytheon Frequency Control Solutions
(FCS) center is an acknowledged technology
leader in developing RF solutions based
on surface acoustic wave (SAW) and
microwave devices. So far, FCS has produced
more than 30,000 RF modules.
FCS was created by consolidating the
former SAW and microwave operations
groups at the Integrated Defense Systems
(IDS) Integrated Air Defense Center in
Andover, Mass. The center manufactures
SAW filters and low-phase-noise oscillators,
as well as complex microwave assemblies,
such as transmit-receive and frequency
synthesizer modules.
Raytheon RF Components’ production
wafer fabrication has been newly combined
with FCS in 2008. This 250,000 sq. ft.
facility contains a 25,000 sq. ft. gallium
arsenide production foundry with a
class-100 clean room that provides customers
with leading-edge custom monolithic
microwave integrated circuit, module
and multifunction solutions for defense
and other performance-driven applications.
The FCS group focuses on Performance,
Relationships and Solutions — the three
pillars of Raytheon Customer Focused
Marketing — to provide customers with
the world’s lowest-noise, SAW-based products
and microwave modules.
Performance
Whether designing a prototype SAW oscillator
with the world’s lowest phase noise,
or driving down the cycle time and cost of
producing a complex microwave module,
FCS is dedicated to achieving excellence in
performance, while meeting or exceeding
26 2008 ISSUE 1 RAYTHEON TECHNOLOGY TODAY
customer expectations. For example, implementing
lean production methods on the
SAW-matched filter used in Space and
Airborne Systems’ (SAS) Firefinder program
resulted in a 16-fold increase in production
capacity, a 10-fold increase in efficiency,
and significantly reduced cycle times.
Work is organized into cells that focus on
continuous improvement and use the
Virtual Business System (VBS) relational
database to provide real-time monitoring
of various metrics, including work-inprocess,
cycle time and earned value. VBS
also uses each component’s serial number
to provide a detailed tracking of the component’s
technical performance.
The FCS 55,000 sq. ft. production area
includes both class-100K and class-10K
clean rooms, along with a 24,000 sq. ft.
area dedicated to volume production of RF
modules. Processes performed include
automated epoxy die attach, wire and ribbon
bonding, hermetic device seam-sealing,
eutectic soldering and the Raytheonproprietary
All Quartz Package device that
includes hermetic glass frit-sealed packages
with laser trim of frequency after sealing.
Ion-beam milling is used to etch grooves
into the quartz resonators for the lowest
RF SYSTEMS
possible phase noise. Laser interferometry
and atomic force microscopy are used to
precisely control groove depths with an
accuracy of better than 50 nm.
The FCS’s RF measurement capabilities
range from 30 MHz to 26.5 GHz, and
automated equipment can perform 60,000
RF measurements per second, including a
full two-port S-parameter characterization
in both receive and transmit modes. Screen
rooms facilitate phase-noise measurements
to -180 dBc.
Relationships
FCS supports all Raytheon businesses and is
a proven partner across Raytheon for programs
such as Patriot, THAAD, HARM and
JLENS, plus numerous others. New programs
in development include SeaRAM, Aegis, SRP
and DDG 1000, along with several secure
programs. FCS has also used shared independent
research and development programs
with both IDS and SAS to ensure
that the products developed complement
customers’ emerging requirements.
Solutions
Raytheon’s FCS is widely recognized as
producing the world’s highest-performing
SAW-based oscillators. Our products’
performance attributes, such as phase
noise and frequency stability, are typically
three to 10 times better than those of
products available from other industry
sources. Achieving aging rates of less than
1 ppm/year, Raytheon SAW resonators use
a patented All-Quartz-Package (AQP) to
achieve the world’s best SAW device stability.
YESTERDAY…TODAY…TOMORROW