50W X-Band GaN MMIC HPA: Effective power capability and transient thermal analysis

This paper reports the performance of a two-stage X-Band MMIC GaN HPA designed for radar applications. At 20V drain voltage bias and 3dB compression point the HPA delivers more than 20W of pulsed RF power with a PAE of 35% over the 8-10.5GHz frequency range, whereas at Vds=35V the MMIC provides more than 50W and 30% of PAE, with a peak power value of 58W at 9 GHz. In order to evaluate the effective HPA power capability in a real system environment and the related thermal management issues, the HPA transient thermal response for pulsed bias conditions has been investigated by means of IR thermo-camera measurements.