A 8W High efficiency X-band Power pHEMT amplifier

Abstract

A monolithic two-stage high power, high efficiency and high robustness amplifier was developed for X-band applications. The combination of the improvement of the UMS Power PHEMT technology called PPH25X in term of breakdown, and the adapted design regarding output mismatch and overdrive explain the performances of this device. The MMIC HPA, with a surface of 14.6 mm 2 , provides 8W output power in pulsed mode associated to a PAE of about 45 % at ambient temperature and can operate at 6dB compression in a wide frequency bandwidth (35% of frequency band). The good level of performance, the low sensitivity to the environment make this amplifier an excellent candidate for X band applications such as phased array active antennas.

GaN Based HEMT Power Amplifier Design with 44.5dBm Output Power Operating at 5-7GHz

“…AlGaN/GaN technology-based power amplifier biased at 20V for the X band application provided an output power between 21W to 28.5W for the frequency range from 8-10.5 GHz . The peak performance of this amplifier design provided an output power of 30W for the frequency ranging 8.5-9GHz [6,9]. A 10W power amplifier achieved an output power level of 42.03dBm at 2.4GHz [9].…”

Power Efficient GaN HEMT High Power Amplifier Design Operating at 5-7GHz Bandwidth

“…Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) and Gallium Nitride (GaN) are competing for the future power devices and microwave applications, however due to material properties GaN based devices have more abilities to operate at high temperatures and high voltages than GaAs. Huet et al [3], presented the design of GaAs pHEMT power amplifier providing the maximum power added efficiency (PAE) of 45% operating over a bandwidth from 8-12 GHz. Chu et al [4] demonstrated the peak output power of 12.6W with peak PAE 52.6% at 9.4 GHz.…”

Highly reliable 10‐W X/Ku‐band pHEMT monolithic microwave integrated circuit power amplifier

“…Recently, several HPAs have been fabricated on different substrates such as silicon [1,2], GaAs [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] and GaN [15][16][17][18]. GaN technologies have superior performance in power applications due to high breakdown voltage of the transistors, which results in high output power density.…”

“…A number of GaAs HPAs have been reported in the X and Ku frequency bands. For instance, 8-10 W HPAs are reported in [4][5][6][7][10][11][12][13]; however, all of the HPAs are narrowband designs. Hek has introduced a wideband PA in pulse mode regime [9], however the performance is degraded in continuous-wave (CW) mode.…”