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Technology Stocks : RF Micro Devices (RFMD) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Carl van Rooyen who wrote (2018)	1/16/2000 8:06:00 AM
From: lazarre	Respond to of 4849

Good post, Carl. Trying to time RFMD ( read also VTSS :-) ) is a fool's game. I bought RFMD twice, once at 44 and a few days later at 47; then I thought I was oh so sharp selling my 1st stake at 62 ( just a mere 20 points ago...ahhhrrrrrr! )a few weeks later. Keep the ones that work, trade the trash. Unless, of course, you pinched Madame Svetlana's crystal ball --- you know,the one that works, not the rip-off copies of the original---like a few on this board have. L

To: Carl van Rooyen who wrote (2018)	1/16/2000 11:07:00 AM
From: Carl Mays	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 4849

Carl, Gallium (Ga) is one of the elements that comprises the actual substrate where circuits are formed by the semiconductor process. GaAs - gallium arsenide is the compound component that is used as the substrate (wafer) vs. the typical Si (silicon) single component substrate that is typically used in standard CMOS production. GaAs has several inherent properties that that sets it apart from silicon. GaAs conducts faster with less resistant resulting in speed, power consumption, and heat advantages over silicon. On the downside, the substrates are extremely fragile due to the compound structure of the element. This causes a much higher breakage problem during the manufacturing process. Also, the wafers are much heavier, causing issues with some equipment that was designed for standard Si processing have been adapted to GaAs. This weight issue also becomes a problem when wafers are made. Wafers are formed by growing crystals in a boule and then slicing the boule into the actual wafers. A GaAs boule is heavier than silicon causing the neck to break before it gets to a very large size. This is why you see standard GaAs fabs operating at 3-4" and migrating to 6" instead of the silicon fabs that operate at 8", migrating to 12". Regards