Semicoa — JANS small-signal transistor & rad-hard diode manufacturer on MIL-PRF-19500

• 1968
  Founded
• Costa Mesa, CA
  Headquarters
• Independent US
  Ownership
• JAN → JANSR
  JAN Levels Held
• 34156
  CAGE Code
• Active
  DLA QML Status

About Semicoa Corporation

Semicoa Corporation was founded in 1968 as a small, California-based discrete semiconductor house focused on the emerging market for hermetically sealed bipolar transistors used in aerospace and military hardware. From its founding, the company built its reputation around two related capabilities: rigorous conformance to the US Department of Defense's discrete-semiconductor performance specification, and an unusual willingness to run small production lots for legacy JAN part numbers that larger fabs had long since abandoned. That combination — big-house qualification discipline at boutique-house lot sizes — is why Semicoa is still specified today on decades-old defense and space bills of material.

The company operates from a vertically integrated facility at 333 McCormick Avenue in Costa Mesa, California, where design, wafer fabrication, discrete assembly, screening, and final test all occur under one roof. This single-site model is more than a marketing point: for JANS and JANSR builds, keeping wafer lot acceptance, die attach, hermetic seal, burn-in, and radiation lot acceptance under one configuration-controlled quality system dramatically shortens the traceability chain that defense and space prime contractors have to audit.

Semicoa's ownership history is unusual. In 2008, analog-chip maker Microsemi Corporation acquired substantially all of Semicoa's assets for approximately $25 million. Later that same year, the US Department of Justice filed an antitrust complaint — United States v. Microsemi Corporation — alleging that the acquisition had created a monopoly in the market for small-signal transistors meeting the most stringent DoD standards for military and space use. Under DOJ pressure, Microsemi divested the Semicoa assets, and the company was reconstituted as an independent, US-owned entity with backing from Los Angeles private-equity firm Vance Street Capital. It has operated independently from its Costa Mesa plant ever since.

Today Semicoa is AS9100D certified, ISO 9001 registered, and ITAR registered, and is an active member of the JEDEC community. It is listed on the Defense Logistics Agency's live QML-19500 company list under CAGE code 34156, with a qualified plant at the Costa Mesa address and a DLA-recognized contract assembly relationship with Tong Hsing Electronic for select downstream operations.

Semicoa product portfolio on MIL-PRF-19500

Semicoa's MIL-PRF-19500 product portfolio is organized around three anchor families: bipolar small-signal transistors, radiation-hardened bipolar devices, and hermetically packaged rectifiers and diodes. Below is a summary by device type — for specific qualified part types and slash sheets, the definitive source is the DLA QPL/QML-19500 listing for Semicoa Corporation, CAGE 34156.

Small-signal bipolar transistors (NPN and PNP)

Semicoa's flagship business is small-signal bipolar switching and amplifying transistors — the classic 2N-series NPN and PNP devices that have been designed into US defense and space hardware since the 1960s. These are supplied in hermetically sealed metal-can packages (TO-18, TO-39, TO-46, TO-52, TO-72) and in a ceramic surface-mount package (UB) for board-level use. Standard qualification levels are JAN, JANTX, JANTXV, JANS, and JANSR, with die-level variants available under JANHC and JANKC for hybrid module builders.

Radiation-hardened bipolar transistors

Semicoa applies a "Rad Hard By Design" bipolar process to both NPN and PNP transistor families, delivering a minimum total-ionizing-dose hardness of 300 Krad with excellent wafer-to-wafer and lot-to-lot uniformity. The Rad Hard families are qualified to both JANTXV and JANS RHA requirements, and Semicoa runs Low Dose Rate (LDR) testing at 10 mrad/s in both biased and unbiased states, with 22 devices tested per wafer (11 biased plus 11 unbiased) and statistics applied at the 0.99/90% level. Standard RHA marks are E (30 Krad), K (50 Krad), and U (100 Krad).

Bipolar power transistors

Semicoa also produces a smaller line of bipolar power switching transistors qualified under MIL-PRF-19500 for high-reliability military, aerospace, and space use. These parts complement the small-signal line for power-supply and motor-drive circuits inside spacecraft and legacy defense electronics where a JAN-level replacement is required for an obsolete part.

Rad-hard rectifiers and all-ceramic diodes

In more recent years, Semicoa has extended its franchise into rad-hard ultrafast rectifiers and a new family of all-ceramic packaged diodes engineered specifically for spacecraft power-bus and power-supply applications. The all-ceramic diode line is offered in the surface-mount UMC1 package (available in waffle pack or pocket tape), with a -65 °C to 175 °C operating range typical of space power hardware.

Bare die for hybrid assembly

A significant share of Semicoa's business is bare-die shipments to hybrid module and multi-chip package houses. These are qualified under the JANHC and JANKC chip-level tiers of MIL-PRF-19500 (with RHA letter designators added where applicable) and are used inside DC-DC converters, motor-drive hybrids, and custom analog blocks that themselves ship against MIL-PRF-38534.

SCD (Source-Controlled Document) parts

Beyond its standard QPL offering, Semicoa builds parts to customer Source Controlled Documents (SCDs) — either direct derivatives of existing MIL-PRF-19500 devices already in Semicoa's qualified inventory, or custom-designed devices that combine Semicoa's proven die and package technology in a non-standard configuration. This is a common vehicle for replacing obsolete JAN part numbers whose original slash sheets have been withdrawn.

How Hybrid Electronics sources Semicoa JAN parts

Hybrid Electronics Corporation is an independent stocking distributor and sourcing agent, headquartered in Sanford, Florida and in continuous operation since 1981. We are not an authorized distributor, agent, licensee, or partner of Semicoa Corporation. Our role is to help defense, avionics, space, and industrial buyers close BOM gaps on MIL-PRF-19500 discretes — the JAN, JANTX, JANTXV, JANS, and JANSR parts that mainstream distribution cannot fill on demand, in the low order quantities and mixed-lot configurations that legacy defense programs typically need.

For Semicoa parts specifically, that means three sourcing modes:

• Excess and residual inventory. We regularly acquire sealed, date-coded Semicoa JAN inventory from prime contractors and repair depots working down completed programs, and make that stock available for follow-on builds and depot spares.
• Open-market sourcing against a specific JAN part number. Send us the exact JAN, JANTX, JANTXV, JANS, or JANSR part number you need, in your target quantity, and we quote availability, price, and lead time from our vetted secondary-market channels.
• Obsolete-part replacement research. Where an original JAN part has gone end-of-life, we help identify Semicoa alternates or Source-Controlled Document candidates that can be qualified as drop-in replacements.

Every part we ship is subject to incoming visual, mechanical, and documentation inspection. Hybrid Electronics does not sell counterfeit parts and does not offer repair services — our sourcing is deliberately narrow so that buyers know exactly what they are getting: authentic MIL-PRF-19500 discretes with full traceability, sourced from channels we know.

Semicoa MIL-PRF-19500 part families we source

We source across Semicoa's full MIL-PRF-19500 catalog. The following are the device families we quote most often — for specific part numbers, quantities, and lead times, please submit an RFQ so we can confirm current availability.

• JAN / JANTX / JANTXV / JANS 2N-series NPN small-signal switching transistors (metal can, TO-18 / TO-39 class)
• JAN / JANTX / JANTXV / JANS 2N-series PNP small-signal switching transistors (metal can, TO-18 / TO-39 class)
• JANS / JANSR high-speed 2N-series switching transistors (low-nanosecond turn-off)
• JANS / JANSR low-noise 2N-series small-signal amplifiers
• JANS / JANSR RF small-signal NPN transistors (VHF / UHF)
• JANS / JANSR matched-pair small-signal transistors for precision analog
• JANTXV / JANS Rad-Hard bipolar transistors, RHA level E (30 Krad)
• JANTXV / JANS Rad-Hard bipolar transistors, RHA level K (50 Krad)
• JANTXV / JANS Rad-Hard bipolar transistors, RHA level U (100 Krad)
• JANS / JANSR bipolar power switching transistors (hermetic metal-can power packages)
• JANS rad-hard ultrafast rectifiers in hermetic axial packages
• JANS all-ceramic packaged diodes in the UMC1 surface-mount package for space power supplies
• JANHC bare-die bipolar transistors for MIL-PRF-38534 hybrid assembly
• JANKC bare-die bipolar transistors for hybrid assembly
• JANHC / JANKC bare die with RHA letter designators for rad-hard hybrid builds
• Ceramic surface-mount (UB package) small-signal transistors for board-level assembly
• Source-Controlled Document (SCD) derivatives for obsolete-JAN replacement
• Semicoa-branded JAN discretes sealed in original packaging for depot spares

Note: Hybrid Electronics does not publish specific JAN part numbers on this page. Send us the exact part number, slash sheet, and quantity you need and we will confirm availability against current Semicoa inventory and vetted secondary-market channels.

Trademark and affiliation notice. All company names, product names, and trademarks referenced on this page are the property of their respective owners. Hybrid Electronics Corporation is an independent stocking distributor and sourcing agent; we are not a distributor, reseller, agent, licensee, partner, or authorized service provider of Semicoa Corporation unless expressly stated. Component sourcing is subject to availability and inspection. Hybrid Electronics does not sell counterfeit parts and does not offer repair services. MIL-PRF-19500 and JAN quality-level designations are administered by the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency (DLA).