10W power amplifier and 3W transmit/receive module with 3 dB NF in Ka band using a 100nm GaN/Si process

Gasmi, Ahmed; Kaamouchi, M. El; Poulain, Julien; Wroblewski, B.; Lecourt, F.; Dagher, Gulnar; Frijlink, P.; Leblanc, Rémy

doi:10.1109/csics.2017.8240431

Cited by 52 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…S 11 of the resulting drain equivalent circuit is shown as a green trace in Fig. 2 (28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38). The goal in the following will be to design an ISMN that achieves 85% of the maximum P out and PAE in the frequency band of interest.…”

Section: Technology and Devicementioning

confidence: 99%

Limitations and Implementation Strategies of Interstage Matching in a 6-W, 28–38-GHz GaN Power Amplifier MMIC

Neininger

John

Thome

et al. 2021

IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Techn.

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In this article, we summarize the theoretical matching boundaries and show the limitations they implicate for real-world amplifier design. Starting with a common schematic prototype, we investigate the question of how to realize its electrical response in a densely routed, massively parallelized layout. To that end, we develop a comprehensive study on the application of space-mapping techniques toward the design of high-power amplifiers (HPAs). We derive three reference design procedures and compare their performance in terms of convergence, speed, and practicality when laying out a densely routed HPA interstage matching network. Subsequently, we demonstrate the usefulness of the study by designing the networks of a compact three-stage eight-way wideband HPA in the Ka-band. The processed monolithic microwave integrated circuit features a 1-dB large-signal bandwidth of more than 11 GHz (a fractional bandwidth of 32.8%) and thus covers most of the Ka-band with an output power exceeding 6 W in 3 dB of gain compression. This demonstrates the highest combination of power and bandwidth to date using a reactively matched topology in the Ka-band.

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Section: Technology and Devicementioning

confidence: 99%

Limitations and Implementation Strategies of Interstage Matching in a 6-W, 28–38-GHz GaN Power Amplifier MMIC

Neininger

John

Thome

et al. 2021

IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Techn.

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“…The technology selected for the project is the D01GH process from OMMIC: a 100 nm gate-length GaN-on-Si HEMT process with which different designs at the target frequencies have been successfully demonstrated in literature [2,4,5,41]. At European level and among commercial processes, this one features the shortest gate-length even if, for space applications, working with a Si substrate, rather than SiC, may represent an issue.…”

Section: Technologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Space-Compliant Design of a Millimeter-Wave GaN-on-Si Stacked Power Amplifier Cell through Electro-Magnetic and Thermal Simulations

et al. 2021

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The stacked power amplifier is a widely adopted solution in CMOS technology to overcome breakdown limits. Its application to compound semiconductor technology is instead rather limited especially at very high frequency, where device parasitic reactances make the design extremely challenging, and in gallium nitride technology, which already offers high breakdown voltages. Indeed, the stacked topology can also be advantageous in such scenarios as it can enhance gain and chip compactness. Moreover, the higher supply voltages and lower supply currents beneficially impact on reliability, thus making the stacked configuration an attractive solution for space applications. This paper details the design of two stacked cells, differing in their inter-stage matching strategy, conceived for space applications at Ka-band in 100 nm GaN-on-Si technology. In particular, the design challenges related to the thermal constraints posed by space reliability and to the electro-magnetic cross-talk issues that may arise at millimeter-wave frequencies are discussed. The best cell achieves at saturation, in simulation, 3 W of output power at 36 GHz with associated gain and efficiency in excess of 7 dB and 35%, respectively.

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“…Process design kit (PDK) is available for this process, both for Keysight ADS (adopted in this work) and NI AWR-MWO design suites, including electro-thermal nonlinear model, electromagnetic model, components' layouts and statistic data. The main features of the selected technology are summarized in Table II [6]: the high cut-off frequency of this process makes it suitable for application in Ka-band [9], [10].…”

Section: Technologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermal-aware GaN/Si MMIC design for space applications

Ramella

Pirola

Reale

et al. 2019

2019 IEEE International Conference on Microwaves, Antennas, Communications and Electronic Systems (COMCAS)

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Thermal stress in microwave power devices is a major issue for space applications, with a detrimental impact on the operating lifetime of MMICs on board satellites. To limit this, derating rules are applied to the maximum operating junction temperature, which however limit the potential device performance when GaN/Si technology is employed. In this framework, classical power amplifier design paradigm must be reconsidered, moving to a thermal-aware design approach. To this aim, it is crucial to have access to highly reliable thermal models of the adopted devices. This work will show that, adopting a simplified but effective thermal model and proper design strategy, GaN/Si technology can be successfully adopted for space-compliant MMIC design up to Ka-band. In particular, the preliminary design of a 10 W MMIC working in Ka-band at 36 GHz will be presented based on the 100 nm gate-length GaN/Si HEMT process from OMMIC foundry.

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10W power amplifier and 3W transmit/receive module with 3 dB NF in Ka band using a 100nm GaN/Si process

Cited by 52 publications

References 5 publications

Limitations and Implementation Strategies of Interstage Matching in a 6-W, 28–38-GHz GaN Power Amplifier MMIC

Limitations and Implementation Strategies of Interstage Matching in a 6-W, 28–38-GHz GaN Power Amplifier MMIC

Space-Compliant Design of a Millimeter-Wave GaN-on-Si Stacked Power Amplifier Cell through Electro-Magnetic and Thermal Simulations

Thermal-aware GaN/Si MMIC design for space applications

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