Design of a broadband GaN 12 W power amplifier

Abstract

A compact broadband 12 W power amplifier with broadband matching networks is presented. Transistors connected in parallel are used to synthesize the high power. Input, interstage, and output matching networks are also properly designed to meet the requirement of the broadband application. The broadband high power amplifier (HPA) was fabricated using a 0.15‐μm gallium nitride (GaN) HEMT technology, with a maximum saturated measured output power of 43 dBm from 6 to 18 GHz. The measured power added efficiency exceeds 20% in the whole interested band. The proposed HPA also has a compact size of 3.1 mm × 2.96 mm.

A High Efficiency Broadband Gallium Nitride Power Amplifier with Harmonic Control technology

“…As the key part of wireless communication systems, PA is located at the end of the radio frequency transmitter, which performance is directly related to the index of the whole system [2]. Meanwhile, to obtain high efficiency and wideband for PA is still challenging [3]. This can be due to the fact that the optimal performance can be attained when the two ends of the transistor exhibit conjugate impedance matching for PA [4].…”