Title :
A 67% PAE, 100 W GaN power amplifier with on-chip harmonic tuning circuits for C-band space applications
Author :
Miwa, Shinichi ; Kamo, Yoshitaka ; Kittaka, Yoshinori ; Yamasaki, Takashi ; Tsukahara, Yoshihiro ; Tanii, Toshihiko ; Kohno, Masaki ; Goto, Seiki ; Shima, Akihiro
Author_Institution :
High Freq. & Opt. Device Works, Mitsubishi Electr. Corp., Itami, Japan
Abstract :
This paper describes a high efficiency and high output power GaN power amplifier for C-band space applications. The amplifier uses on-chip harmonic tuned FETs to improve dc-to-rf conversion efficiency. A 2nd harmonic input tuning circuit is incorporated into each unit on-chip FET cell and realizes high precise control of 2nd harmonic input impedance. In addition, 2nd and 3rd harmonic output impedances are optimized with external output matching circuits. A 100 W power amplifier with 4-chips achieves a 67.0% PAE (72.4% drain efficiency) at 3.7 GHz under CW operating conditions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest efficiency of C-band power amplifiers ever reported with over 100 W output power.
Keywords :
aerospace instrumentation; circuit tuning; field effect transistors; gallium compounds; microwave power amplifiers; C-band power amplifiers; C-band space applications; GaN; dc-to-rf conversion efficiency; frequency 3.7 GHz; matching circuits; onchip harmonic tuned FET; onchip harmonic tuning circuits; power 100 W; FETs; Gallium nitride; Harmonic analysis; Power amplifiers; Power generation; RLC circuits; System-on-a-chip; 2nd harmonic tuning; C-band; GaN; PAE; on-chip; power amplifier; space application;
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.2011.5972673
