Microchip Technology has expanded the certification scope of its Nantes facility in France, adding QML Class Y under the MIL?PRF?38535 standard. The site, which has held QML Classes Q and V since 1999, now extends its capabilities to better support high-reliability aerospace and defense applications.
By adding QML Class Y, the Nantes facility can now handle a broader range of packaging technologies, including non-hermetic solutions. This opens the door to higher levels of integration and more advanced semiconductor designs tailored for next-generation military and space systems.
The new certification also reinforces Microchip’s high-reliability manufacturing presence in Europe. Alongside QML Class Y, the Nantes site holds ESCC QML and AS9100:2018 certifications, making it one of the company’s most qualified facilities for aerospace and defense production.
The site is also equipped to support qualification and testing for Microchip’s PIC64 High-Performance Spaceflight Computing (PIC64-HPSC) platform.
These 64-bit radiation-hardened and radiation-tolerant microprocessors are built for demanding space missions, and the Nantes facility plays a key role in meeting strict requirements for electrical testing, qualification, and long-term reliability in harsh environments.
Microchip operates a network of worldwide qualification sites across the U.S. and Europe, each aligned with specific military standards. In the U.S., its San Jose, California site is certified to MIL?PRF?38535 Classes Q, V, and Y for advanced digital and space applications, while Garden Grove focuses on Class Q for analog and mixed-signal devices.
The Lawrence, Massachusetts facility supports MIL?PRF?19500 and MIL?PRF?38534 Classes H and K for discrete and hybrid microelectronics. In Europe, alongside Nantes, Microchip’s Ennis, Ireland facility is certified to MIL?PRF?19500 for discrete manufacturing.
Together, these sites provide consistent, high-reliability qualification capabilities across regions without relying on separate lab certifications.
Leadership Comment
“We’re honored to be a leading supplier of semiconductors to the aerospace and defense industry and continue to deliver the quality and reliability our customers depend on for critical missions,” said Patrick Johnson, senior corporate vice president of Microchip’s Aerospace and Defense Group. “Microchip’s products are in most military applications, and in space, we are virtually in everything that leaves Earth.”
With over 60 years of space heritage, Microchip has a broad portfolio of high-reliability solutions designed for the aerospace and defense market including Radiation-Tolerant (RT) and Radiation-Hardened (RH) MCUs, MPUs, FPGAs and Ethernet PHYs, power devices, RF products, timing solutions, as well as discrete components from bare die to system modules.
Additionally, Microchip offers a wide range of components on the Qualified Products List (QPL) to better serve its customers.
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