Modeling and performance of a 100-element pHEMT grid amplifier

Author

De Lisio, Michael P. ; Duncan, Scott W. ; Tu, Der-Wei ; Liu, Cheh-Ming ; Moussessian, Alina ; Rosenberg, James J. ; Rutledge, David B.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng., Hawaii Univ., Honolulu, HI, USA

Volume

44

Issue

12

fYear

1996

fDate

12/1/1996 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

2136

Lastpage

2144

Abstract

A 100-element hybrid grid amplifier has been fabricated, The active devices in the grid are custom-made pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor (pHEMT) differential-pair chips. We present a model for gain analysis and compare measurements with theory. The grid includes stabilizing resistors in the gate. Measurements show the grid has a peak gain of 10 db when tuned for 10 GHz and a gain of 12 dB when tuned for 9 GHz. The maximum 3-dB bandwidth is 15% at 9 GHz. The minimum noise figure is 3 dB. The maximum saturated output power is 3.7 W, with a peak power-added efficiency of 12%. These results area significant improvement over previous grid amplifiers based on heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBT´s)

Keywords

HEMT circuits; circuit stability; hybrid integrated circuits; integrated circuit modelling; integrated circuit noise; microwave integrated circuits; microwave power amplifiers; power amplifiers; transmission line theory; 10 to 12 dB; 100-element hybrid grid amplifier; 12 percent; 3 dB; 3.7 W; 9 GHz; 9 to 10 GHz; PHEMT differential-pair chips; PHEMT grid amplifier; SHF; gain analysis; high electron mobility transistor; model; pseudomorphic HEMT; stabilizing resistors; Bandwidth; Differential amplifiers; Electron mobility; Gain measurement; HEMTs; MODFETs; Noise figure; PHEMTs; Resistors; Semiconductor device measurement;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Microwave Theory and Techniques, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9480

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/22.556440

Filename

556440