Analysis and design of broadband 2‐W power amplifier based on cascode transistors

Abstract

In this article, a 7–11.5 GHz 2‐W power amplifier (PA) based on cascode transistors is developed using 0.15‐µm GaAs pHEMT. This design facilitates impedance matching in the broadband range by using a cascode structure. A double‐cascode transistors structure is used as a unit cell to combine radio frequency voltage swings to achieve a broad bandwidth (BW). In addition, power synthesis techniques are used to achieve higher power output. Ultimately, based on the above two structures, a four‐way power‐synthesized PA is designed. The fabricated PA shows a peak power of 33.8 dBm at 9 GHz with a power‐added efficiency (PAE) of 43%. The output power is higher than 32 dBm at frequencies from 6 to 11.5 GHz with a PAE of more than 25%. The fractional 3‐dB output power BW is 80%. The chip area is 3.6 × 1.8 mm2, including the input and output test pads.