Scalable CMOS power devices with 70% PAE and 1, 2 and 3.4 Watt output power at 2GHz

This paper reports RF power devices achieving 70% power-added efficiency (PAE) with 1, 2 and 3.4 W output power at 2 GHz. The power devices operate as sub-optimum class-E power amplifiers, having the advantage of 1.6 times higher output power with a slightly lower PAE than conventional class-E. The power devices use high voltage extended-drain NMOS (ED-NMOS) transistors in standard 65 nm CMOS. A scalable layout design that we used preserves the high PAE for the various output power levels.