Over 10W C-Ku band GaN MMIC non-uniform distributed power amplifier with broadband couplers

Masuda, S.; Akasegawa, Akihiko; Ohki, Takao; Makiyama, Kozo; Okamoto, Naoya; Imanishi, Kenji; Kikkawa, T.; Shigematsu, H.

doi:10.1109/mwsym.2010.5517992

Cited by 17 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…In [54], a balanced power amplifier using two DAs with tapered width of the drain line and scaled size of transistors is implemented in a 0.25-µm GaN process with 40 V supply voltage (Fig. 27).…”

Section: E Gan Dasmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The (R)evolution of Distributed Amplifiers: From Vacuum Tubes to Modern CMOS and GaN ICs

2018

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I. INTRODUCTION B ROADBAND amplification of signals is desirable in many applications such as high-speed data communications, high-resolution imaging systems, optoelectronics and instrumentation systems. Wide bandwidth is one of the prominent factors to be considered in designing such a system since it determines ability of the system for transferring highdata-rate information, transmitting/receiving short pulses, or processing wideband signals. Designing broadband amplifiers has always been challenging. The ever-increasing demand for higher data-rates and low energy consumption in next generation communication systems further complicates the design of broadband amplifiers. Distributed amplifiers (DA), also known as travelling-wave amplifiers (TWA), are one of the most popular broadband amplifier architectures. The DA architecture was originally patented by Percival in 1936 [1] and later elaborated by Ginzton in 1948 [2]. The early DAs were implemented using vacuum tube technology. One of the first vacuum tube DAs fabricated in 1950 is shown in Fig. 1. The amplifier included three type 807 tubes and 482-Ω plate and grid lines. The amplifier achieved a gain of 11 dB, bandwidth of 100 Hz to 300 MHz, and a typical output power of 15 W [3]. The first Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) DA was demonstrated by Ayasli in 1982 [4] using a Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) MESFET technology. The amplifier, shown in Fig. 2, included four transistors with 1-µm gate length and 50-Ω input and output lines. It achieved 9-dB gain and 1-13 GHz bandwidth. GaAs remained the main technology for design of DAs until the inception of the first Indium Phosphide (InP) DA in 1990 [5] with an impressive bandwidth of 5-100 GHz. GaAs and InP semiconductor technologies have been predominantly employed in implementation of DAs. These technologies provide superior performance resulting from their high electron mobility, high saturated electron velocity, high breakdown voltage, and high-resistivity substrate. The later contributes to availability of low-loss integrated passive elements. The market demands for low cost, small size, and low power consumption of electronic systems has motivated researchers to develop techniques to implement distributed amplifiers using mainstream CMOS technologies. The first integrated CMOS DA was presented by Kleveland in 1999 [6]. Recently,

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Section: E Gan Dasmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The balanced distributed power amplifier with 12.9 W average output power implemented using a 0.25-µm GaN technology[54].…”

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confidence: 99%

The (R)evolution of Distributed Amplifiers: From Vacuum Tubes to Modern CMOS and GaN ICs

2018

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“…GaN PAs raise the prospect of compact solid state PAs (SSPAs) replacing bulky travelling wave tube amplifiers to obtain both wideband and high RF powers, which are essential to many applications such as electronic warfare systems and security communications. Recently, much significant work has been done on wideband GaN PA monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) [2][3][4][5][6][7].…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Size-efficient GaN PA design is important because making SSPAs more compact reduces GaN foundry costs. Previously reported GaN DA MMICs, while showing excellent output power from C-band to Ku-band [3][4][5]7], have not considered the issue of efficient chip size. This Letter proposes a size-efficient GaN DA for output power densities higher than those achieved in previous studies.…”

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6–18 GHz, 8.1 W size‐efficient GaN distributed amplifier MMIC

et al. 2016

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A 6-18 GHz, 8.1 W gallium nitride (GaN) distributed amplifier (DA) monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) is presented with compact size. To accomplish high-output power density with compact size, the last two sections of the DA consist of small-sized FETs. This approach improves the output return loss and allows the drain line lengths to be reduced thereby increasing the drain cutoff frequency and reducing circuit size, which results in increased gain and output power characteristics up to higher frequencies. Source via holes of GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) are also shared to reduce chip size. The proposed DA is implemented as a two-stage DA using a commercial 0.25 µm GaN MMIC process. It shows 8.1 W average continuous wave output power and 6.8 dB average associated gain from 6 to 18 GHz under 36 V drain bias with 6.7 mm 2 chip area. The proposed DA obtains 1.21 W/mm 2 output power density and 1.02 dB/mm 2 gain density.

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6–18 GHz, 26 W GaN HEMT compact power‐combined non‐uniform distributed amplifier

et al. 2016

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A 6-18 GHz gallium nitride (GaN) non-uniform distributed amplifier (NDA) monolithic microwave integrated circuit with high power density is implemented with compact four-way combined power. The drain lines and gate lines are shared among the combined NDAs. Sharing drain (or gate) lines reduces the drain (or gate) line length by half, while keeping the same characteristic impedances and eliminates bulky and lossy power combiners, such as Wilkinson combiners. The proposed four-way NDA was fabricated using a commercial 0.25 μm GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) process. It shows average continuous wave output power of 20.8 W and average associated gain of 10.7 dB from 6 to 18 GHz under 33 V drain bias. When pulsed input power and pulsed DC bias are simultaneously supplied to the NDA, the output power increases to 26 W, on average. To the best of the authors' knowledge, the highest RF power and power density among the reported GaN power amplifiers with an octave bandwidth higher than the Ku-band is represented in this work.

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Over 10W C-Ku band GaN MMIC non-uniform distributed power amplifier with broadband couplers

Cited by 17 publications

References 5 publications

The (R)evolution of Distributed Amplifiers: From Vacuum Tubes to Modern CMOS and GaN ICs

The (R)evolution of Distributed Amplifiers: From Vacuum Tubes to Modern CMOS and GaN ICs

6–18 GHz, 8.1 W size‐efficient GaN distributed amplifier MMIC

6–18 GHz, 26 W GaN HEMT compact power‐combined non‐uniform distributed amplifier

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