Design of a distributed amplifierfor the first higher order passband operation

It is shown that distributed amplifiers using transmission lines between the active devices are able to operate at higher order passbands. This feature is similar to the operation of a distributed element microwave filters, where besides the fundamental, higher order passbands appear at the odd harmonics. This property allows higher frequency operation which cannot be achieved by conventional distributed amplifier design techniques. Analysis of operation and a novel design technique is presented in detail, which yields the optimum design parameters for higher order passband operation of distributed amplifiers. The method is demonstrated by the realization of a hybrid integrated three stage amplifier.