Title :
Rugged HBT Class-C power amplifiers with base-emitter clamping
Author :
Luo, Xi ; Halder, Subrata ; Hwang, James C M
Author_Institution :
Lehigh Univ., Bethlehem, PA, USA
Abstract :
The ruggedness of HBT Class-C power amplifiers was improved by adding an anti-parallel diode to the amplifier input to limit the negative swing of the base-emitter voltage. The improved amplifier could withstand 3:1 instead of 2:1 mismatch in CW operation, and 2.5:1 instead of 1.5:1 mismatch in pulse operation. In contrast to other approaches with emitter ballast, active feedback, or electrostatic discharge protection circuits, the present approach is simple to implement and has negligible impact on overall amplifier output power, gain or efficiency.
Keywords :
III-V semiconductors; gallium arsenide; gallium compounds; heterojunction bipolar transistors; indium compounds; power amplifiers; InGaP-GaAs; active feedback; antiparallel diode; base-emitter clamping; base-emitter voltage; electrostatic discharge protection circuits; emitter ballast; pulse operation; rugged HBT class-C power amplifiers; Avalanche breakdown; Clamps; Heterojunction bipolar transistors; Microwave amplifiers; Power amplifiers; Power generation; Resistors; Avalanche breakdown; heterojunction bipolar transistors; impedance matching; power bipolar transistor amplifiers; robustness; standing wave measurements;
Conference_Titel :
Microwave Symposium Digest (MTT), 2011 IEEE MTT-S International
Conference_Location :
Baltimore, MD
Print_ISBN :
978-1-61284-754-2
Electronic_ISBN :
0149-645X
DOI :
10.1109/MWSYM.2011.5972559
