GaN MMIC PAs for E-Band (71 GHz - 95 GHz) Radio

Abstract

High data rate E-band (71 GHz-76 GHz, 81 GHz -86 GHz, 92 GHz -95 GHz) communication systems will benefit from power amplifiers that are more than twice as powerful than commercially available GaAs pHEMT MMICs. We report development of three stage GaN MMIC power amplifiers for E-band radio applications that produce 500 mW of saturated output power in CW mode and have > 12 dB of associated power gain. The output power density from 300 μm output gate width GaN MMICs is seven times higher than the power density of commercially available GaAs pHEMT MMICs in this frequency range.Index Terms -AlGaN/GaN, millimeter-wave, PA, FET, GaN, MMIC, Radio.

An Overview of Solid-State Integrated Circuit Amplifiers in the Submillimeter-Wave and THz Regime

“…A 933-mW, 94-GHz GaN MMIC chip having an output periphery of 0.6 mm was reported in 2010 [75]. Additional GaN MMIC results from HRL appear in [76], and others from Fujitsu include a GaN MMIC PA with 25.4 dBm at 76 GHz [77].…”

Millimeter‐wave INP DHBT power amplifier based on power‐optimized cascode configuration

“…Due to this, several attempts had been made to reduce the losses as well as to shrink the chip size. Among other techniques, slow wave propagation technique is reliable, because it will provide higher quality factor (Q), low cost, and low attenuation to the design [1]. Consumers' demand of low cost, power efficient, reliable, and small form factor become increasing nowadays.…”

“…Target specifications for PAs in mm-wave wireless systems are difficult to meet with silicon-based devices due to their low breakdown voltage and low-power density. Recently, a number of GaN high electron-mobility transistor (HEMT)-based E-band PAs demonstrating Watt-level output powers have been published [1,2]. Despite the fact that mm-wave PAs based on heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) technologies reported to date delivers less output power than their HEMT counterparts, highspeed InP double heterojunction bipolar transistor (DHBT) technology is well-suited for power applications and allows a high level of integration [3].…”

The Present and Future Trends in High Power Microwave and Millimeter Wave Technologies

“…A three stage GaN MMIC power amplifiers for E-band radio applications is demonstrated that produce 500 mW of saturated output power in CW mode and have > 12 dB of associated power gain. The output power density from 300 μm output gate width GaN MMICs is seven times higher than the power density of commercially available GaAs pHEMT MMICs in this frequency range [34].…”