NXP closing fab(s) AFT05MS00x EoL

[Dave Lapp]

Hi,

So it seems that NXP is closing the fab where many of their LDMOS RF power parts are made and EoL'ing the devices. Perhaps even exiting the RF power business all together (?). There still seem to be lots of these devices around (Mouser has almost 20K AFT05MS004s) but they'll get scarcer over time.

Since I hadn't seen this mentioned I thought I'd raise it here to see if anyone has any ideas to address this. Taking a quick look on Digikey and Mouser I didn't see any obvious alternates but that is hardly definitive.

Dave L. 

[Jim V]

Yeah, it really sucks. When they introduced the MRF-101 in 2019 they said it would be available for at least 15 years, that would be 2034. Now the last time buy is next month. Thanks NXP.

[Dave Lapp]

When NXP bought Freescale in 2015 they divested their (NXP's) existing RF power business (now Ampleon). I believe that it was felt that keeping both NXP's and Freescale's RF power divisions would get in the way of approvals of the acquisition because it would create a near monopoly in some markets. And Freescale's was the stronger business so it was  retained. Now... I guess not?

[Robert Brown (M0RZF)]

Hi All,

It was announced last year NXP are closing their LDMOS fab and the MRF family is going obsolete. You are right they said 15 years from 2019 !

Frustratingly the IRF510 (45 years old) and BS170 (40 years old) are the mainstay of ham radio designs. There are few alternatives than very expensive beryllium oxide devices.

Back to quiet mode.

-Rob