Atomera & Synopsys Target GaN to Fuel Next-Gen Power and RF Tech

LOS GATOS, CA – April 23, 2026 – In a move poised to accelerate the next wave of high-performance electronics, semiconductor materials firm Atomera Incorporated announced an expanded collaboration with Synopsys, the industry leader in engineering and design software. The partnership focuses on advancing device modeling for gallium nitride (GaN), a critical material enabling more efficient power devices and the high-frequency radio frequency (RF) systems that power modern communications.

This strategic alliance builds upon a long-standing relationship between the two companies and extends their joint efforts into the burgeoning GaN market. By combining Atomera's materials expertise with Synopsys' dominant simulation tools, the initiative aims to shorten development cycles and deliver higher-quality GaN solutions to an industry hungry for performance gains.

The GaN Revolution

For decades, silicon has been the undisputed workhorse of the semiconductor industry. However, as demands for energy efficiency, speed, and power density intensify, silicon is approaching its physical limits in certain applications. This is where wide-bandgap materials like gallium nitride come in. GaN offers superior electrical properties, allowing devices to operate at higher voltages, faster switching speeds, and higher temperatures with significantly lower energy loss compared to their silicon-based counterparts.

This performance advantage is fueling a market explosion. Industry analysts project the GaN semiconductor market, valued at over $800 million in 2024, to surge to more than $3 billion by 2032, reflecting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) exceeding 18%. This rapid adoption is driven by several key sectors:

• Power Electronics: GaN is enabling smaller, lighter, and more efficient power adapters for laptops and smartphones, as well as more powerful and compact on-board chargers and inverters for electric vehicles (EVs).
• 5G and Beyond: The rollout of 5G and future 6G communication networks relies on RF components that can handle high frequencies and power levels efficiently. GaN is the material of choice for these demanding base station amplifiers and other RF hardware.
• Data Centers: As the world's data consumption grows, so does the energy footprint of the data centers that store and process it. GaN-based power supplies help reduce electricity consumption and cooling requirements, lowering operational costs.

Despite its clear advantages, designing with GaN presents unique challenges. Its material properties and device physics are more complex than silicon's, making the design and manufacturing process difficult to predict and optimize. This is precisely the problem the Atomera-Synopsys collaboration aims to solve.

The Critical Role of Advanced Simulation

Bringing a new semiconductor device to market is an enormously expensive and time-consuming process. Before mass production, engineers rely on fabricating and testing numerous physical prototypes, often called engineering wafers, to fine-tune the design and manufacturing process. Each iteration can cost millions of dollars and add months to the development timeline.

This is where Technology Computer-Aided Design (TCAD) becomes indispensable. TCAD software creates a virtual, physics-based simulation of the semiconductor device and its manufacturing process. It allows engineers to build a “digital twin” of a chip, enabling them to test thousands of variations in material, structure, and electrical behavior without ever creating a physical wafer. This dramatically reduces costs, mitigates risk, and accelerates time-to-market.

Synopsys is the undisputed leader in this domain, with its Sentaurus™ TCAD suite considered the industry standard. The platform is used by a vast majority of the world's top semiconductor companies to develop everything from advanced logic chips to memory and power devices. By providing accurate and predictive models, Sentaurus TCAD gives engineers deep insights that lead to better-performing, more reliable products.

“Synopsys has a strong history of working with innovative semiconductor technology companies to help customers evaluate and integrate new capabilities,” said Rahul Deokar, executive director of product management for Manufacturing Solutions at Synopsys. “Our broadened collaboration with Atomera is focused on advancing GaN TCAD simulations to gain deeper insights into how advanced materials can be leveraged to design more efficient devices and address the semiconductor industry’s future RF and power challenges.”

A Strategic Synergy to Unlock Potential

The expanded partnership leverages the complementary strengths of both companies. Atomera will utilize Synopsys' powerful Sentaurus TCAD tools to develop a comprehensive GaN calibration methodology. This involves creating highly accurate and validated TCAD models—or “decks”—that precisely reflect the real-world behavior of GaN devices. These calibrated decks will be made available to customers, allowing them to design GaN products with much greater confidence and speed.

This work is a natural extension of the companies' previous success. They have worked together for years to integrate Atomera's proprietary Mears Silicon Technology™ (MST®) into the Synopsys environment through a toolset known as MSTcad™, allowing customers to simulate the benefits of Atomera's quantum-engineered films on silicon devices.

“This collaboration represents a natural next step in our long-standing collaboration with Synopsys,” stated Scott Bibaud, president and CEO of Atomera. “We have already shown the value of combining MST with Synopsys’ Sentaurus tools through MSTcad, and we are excited to extend that relationship into GaN to continue broadening Atomera’s reach into high-value RF and power semiconductor markets.”

By creating a robust and reliable simulation workflow for GaN, the partnership effectively lowers the barrier to entry for companies looking to adopt the technology and provides established players with the tools to push performance boundaries even further.

Atomera's Bold Move Beyond Silicon

For Atomera, this initiative represents a significant strategic expansion beyond its core MST technology, which is primarily focused on enhancing traditional silicon transistors. While the company continues to advance its MST licensing business, the move into GaN modeling signals a deliberate pivot to capitalize on one of the semiconductor industry's highest-growth segments.

This diversification is not a sudden shift but a calculated evolution. Company leadership has indicated that internal research, along with work conducted with partners like Sandia National Laboratories, has revealed significant opportunities for applying its material science expertise to GaN. Recent investor communications have confirmed that Atomera is already engaged with a commercial GaN customer, demonstrating that this strategic thrust is already gaining market traction.

By developing and offering valuable intellectual property in the form of GaN modeling solutions, Atomera is positioning itself to create new revenue streams that are complementary to its core licensing model. Partnering with Synopsys, whose TCAD platform commands over 30% of the market, ensures that Atomera's GaN solutions will have the broadest possible reach and industry validation. This strategic alignment of materials expertise and simulation power is set to clear the path for a new era of high-performance, GaN-based electronics.