Systematic procedure for load-pull X-parameters measurements for high-efficiency GaN HEMT PA design

Author

Zawada, Pawel ; Barmuta, Pawel ; Nielsen, Troels S. ; Schreurs, Dominique ; Lewandowski, Andreas

Author_Institution

Inst. of the Electron. Syst., Warsaw Univ. of Technol., Warsaw, Poland

fYear

2014

fDate

16-18 June 2014

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

4

Abstract

In this paper, the X-parameters load-pull measurements for high-efficiency multi-band power amplifier design are described. A commercially available 10 W Cree CGH40010F GaN HEMT is used for characterization at three harmonics of the typical telecommunication frequencies: 1.8 GHz, 2.1 GHz, 2.45 GHz, and 2.7 GHz. The measurement setup and procedure are described. Special attention is being paid to the calibration methods in order to ensure the validity of the X-parameters. Using load-dependent X-parameters the optimal large signal operating point for each fundamental frequency was found. For all the bands output power over 10 W and power-added efficiency over 70 % were obtained.

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; UHF measurement; UHF power amplifiers; calibration; gallium compounds; high electron mobility transistors; semiconductor device measurement; wide band gap semiconductors; Cree CGH40010F HEMT; GaN; calibration method; frequency 1.8 GHz; frequency 2.1 GHz; frequency 2.45 GHz; frequency 2.7 GHz; high-efficiency HEMT PA design; high-efficiency multi-band power amplifier design; load-pull X-parameter measurement; power 10 W; power-added efficiency; Calibration; Frequency measurement; Harmonic analysis; Impedance; Load modeling; Power measurement; Tuners; Nonlinear vector network analyzer; X-parameters; load pull; nonlinear measurements; power amplifier;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Microwaves, Radar, and Wireless Communication (MIKON), 2014 20th International Conference on

Conference_Location

Gdansk

Print_ISBN

978-617-607-553-0

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/MIKON.2014.6900008

Filename

6900008