A 155W −95.6 dB THD+N GaN-based Class-D Audio Amplifier With LC Filter Nonlinearity Compensation

Abstract

Silicon MOSFETs-based medium-power (< 50W) Class-D amplifiers (CDAs) switching in the MHz range have gained popularity in recent years, which achieves better linearity thanks to a higher loop gain in the audio band while enabling the use of LC filters with higher cut-off frequencies. However, for high-power (>100 W) CDAs, such switching frequency and high load current could lead to significant power loss. Furthermore, in the presence of a large current and voltage applied to the load, the linearity of the system can quickly degrade due to LC filter component voltage/current dependency. Without any LC filter nonlinearity compensation technique, LC components with high voltage/current rating must be used to reach high system linearity, which are often expensive and bulky. This paper presents a CDA using a GaN-based output stage to achieve high switching frequency and good efficiency simultaneously, and an integrated controller implemented in a 180nm CMOS technology to compensate for the LC filter nonlinearity. Switching at 1.8 MHz, the CDA can deliver a maximum of 155W from a 50V supply into a 4Ω load with a peak efficiency of 91.7%. It achieves a peak THD+N of -95.6 dB (0.0017%) while allowing the use of cheaper and smaller nonlinear LC components.