The stackFET: an improved implementation of the dual gate FET

Author

Hoppin, W.W. ; Cripps, S.C. ; Anderson, J.R.

Author_Institution

Celeritek Inc., San Jose, CA, USA

fYear

1988

fDate

25-27 May 1988

Firstpage

915

Abstract

A method of directly coupling two GaAs FET devices in series is described. The resulting structure, called a stackFET, is essentially an optimum implementation of a dual-gate GaAs FET in which the gain of the two FETs is combined in a series biased, DC-coupled arrangement. The RF interconnection of the stackFET is such that each individual FET acts as if it is operating in RF common-source mode, rather than a common-source/common-gate cascode combination. This results in much higher gain and stability, and very well-behaved matching and automatic gain control characteristics. A stackFET-based balanced amplifier module giving 22.5 dB of gain over the 2-8-GHz band is discussed.<>

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; field effect transistors; gallium arsenide; microwave amplifiers; solid-state microwave circuits; solid-state microwave devices; 2 to 8 GHz; 22.5 dB; AGC characteristics; DC-coupled arrangement; GaAs; III-V semiconductors; RF common-source mode; RF interconnection; SHF; automatic gain control; balanced amplifier module; direct series coupling; dual gate FET; gain improvement; matching; microwave type; optimum implementation; series biased; stability; stackFET; Broadband amplifiers; Coupling circuits; FETs; Gallium arsenide; Impedance matching; Performance gain; Positron emission tomography; Radio frequency; Rivers; Scattering parameters;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Microwave Symposium Digest, 1988., IEEE MTT-S International

Conference_Location

New York, NY, USA

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/MWSYM.1988.22180

Filename

22180