The design and performance of a wideband power amplifier MMIC suitable for electronic warfare (EW) systems and other wide bandwidth applications is presented. The amplifier utilizes dual field plate 0.25- mum GaN on SiC device technology integrated into the three metal interconnect (3 MI) process flow. Experimental results for the MMIC at 30 V power supply operation demonstrate greater than 10 dB of small signal gain, 9 W to 15 W saturated output power and 20% to 38% peak power-added efficiency over a 1.5 GHz to 17 GHz bandwidth.

A Wideband Power Amplifier MMIC Utilizing GaN on SiC HEMT Technology

The design and performance of three wideband SPDT switch MMICs utilizing GaN on SiC technology are presented. The circuits are designed to cover frequency ranges of DC-6 GHz, DC-12 GHz and DC-18 GHz with input power handling optimized over the specified bandwidth. Measured in-fixture s-parameter data demonstrates a maximum insertion loss of 0.7 dB, 1.0 dB and 1.5 dB, respectively for the 6 GHz, 12 GHz and 18 GHz designs. Measured continuous wave power data demonstrates typical input RF power handling of 40 W, 15 W and 10 W, respectively for the 6 GHz, 12 GHz and 18 GHz MMICs.

Wideband high power GaN on SiC SPDT switch MMICs

Design and performance of power amplifiers that have established new benchmarks for 2 to 20 GHz power are reported. The Dual Field Plate (DFP) amplifier achieved a P 3dB of 26.3 Watts max, 15.4 Watts average, 7.1 Watts min with 38.3 % max, 19.8 % average, 5.9 % min PAE and 11.2 dB max, 8.6 dB average, 5.0 dB min power gain from 2 to 20 GHz. Using an improved device, the No FP amplifier achieved a P 3dB of 21.6 Watts max, 16.0 Watts average, 9.9 Watts min with 35.7 % max, 25.9 % average, 15.3 % min PAE and 11.1 dB max, 9.7 dB average, 8.0 dB min power gain from 2 to 20 GHz. This output power, bandwidth, and efficiency is superior to the best previously reported results for both GaN HEMT and PHEMT power amplifiers.

Decade bandwidth 2 to 20 GHz GaN HEMT power amplifier MMICs in DFP and No FP technology

Gallium nitride (GaN) technology is transforming RF monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) for power amplifiers (PAs), switches, low noise amplifiers, and more. Vendors are now producing GaN MMICs in volume and achieving outstanding performance. GaNs characteristics enable PA MMICs with 35 times the output power of GaAs alternatives or much smaller die sizes from L-band through Ka-band. High-power switches with low insertion loss up through 18 GHz have been developed. Low-noise amplifiers have been demonstrated with noise figures equivalent to gallium arsenide (GaAs) but with much higher input power survivability. The market for GaN RF MMICs spans commercial and military applications, including base station, cable television infrastructure, communications, radar and electronic warfare (EW), among others.

GaN Takes the Lead

This paper reports on multi-decade bandwidth GaN HEMT Cascode-distributed power amplifier designs which achieve performance from base-band to over 20 GHz. The GaN MMICs are based on a 0.2um AlGaN/GaN low noise T-gate HEMT technology with an fT ∼ 75 GHz. To increase the MMIC power capability of this low noise GaN technology, a cascode DA design approach was employed which can operate at twice the recommended Vds voltage. The resulting amplifiers achieve 1–4 Watts of saturated CW power from 100MHz to over 20GHz at an operating voltage of 30V. Typical OIP3 ≫ 40 dBm and NF of 3 dB were also achieved. Compared to equivalent designs in a similar 0.15um GaAs PHEMT low noise technology fabricated in the same foundry, these multi-decade GaN HEMT MMIC DAs obtain 6 dB higher output power and 5.8–6.6dB higher OIP3 while achieving comparable gain, noise figure, and bandwidth. These are believed to be the first multi-decade GaN power distributed amplifiers that have been demonstrated and can enable future ultra-wideband frequency agile and software defined radio systems that require baseband to microwave frequency operation.

Multi-decade GaN HEMT Cascode-distributed power amplifier with baseband performance

The design and performance of a wideband power amplifier MMIC suitable for electronic warfare (EW) systems and other wide bandwidth applications is presented. The amplifier utilizes dual field plate 0.25-mum GaN on SiC device technology integrated into the three metal interconnect (3MI) process flow. Experimental results for the MMIC at 30V power supply operation demonstrate greater than 10 dB of small signal gain, 9 W to 15 W saturated output power and 20% to 38% peak power added efficiency over a 1.5 GHz to 17 GHz bandwidth.

V. Williams

Papers

A Wideband Power Amplifier MMIC Utilizing GaN on SiC HEMT Technology

A Wideband Power Amplifier MMIC Utilizing GaN on SiC HEMT Technology