5W GaN MMIC for Millimeter-Wave Applications

Power amplifier MMICs were designed and fabricated using micro-strip topology on 3-mil thinned semi-insulating SiC substrates with through vias. A two-stage 50-ohm matched Ka-band MMIC with an output-stage composed of a 1.2-mm-wide device operated with Psat of 5 Watts at 26.5 GHz, corresponding to a power density of 3.1 W/mm, with an associated gain of 9dB and a PAE of 20%. The MMIC produced 13 plusmn1dB of linear gain from 25GHz to 30GHz with an associated P3dB of > 3 watts across the band. These results are the best combination of output power and power density reported from a Ka-band GaN MMIC to date