Design of High-Power High-Efficiency Broadband GaN HEMT Power Amplifier for S Band Applications using Load-Pull Technique

Abstract

This work reveals the design for broadband high-power high-efficiency GaN HEMT power amplifier, operating in the frequency band ranging from 2.15 GHz to 2.65 GHz. The proposed structure is implemented using Cree GaN HEMT CGH40010 transistor. The high-power and high-efficiency performances over the broadband bandwidth are achieved using the load-pull technique. The proposed power amplifier is unconditionally stable over the entire operating frequency band. With the neatly designed matching circuits, the introduced power amplifier shows an excellent input/output matching. The simulated results show a flat power gain of 15 dB with an output 1-dB compression point of 14 dB. In terms of largesignal performance, the proposed amplifier reaches a saturated output power of 41.3 dBm (~13.6 Watts) with a PAE of 64% and a drain efficiency of 72%. The proposed design achieves an excellent linearity with an output third order two-tone intercept point TOI of 48 dBm.