Title :
X band highly efficient GaN power amplifier utilizing built-in electroformed heat sinks for advanced thermal management
Author :
Margomenos, A. ; Micovic, M. ; Kurdoghlian, A. ; Shinohara, K. ; Brown, D.F. ; Butler, Charles ; Bowen, R. ; Wetzel, M. ; McGuire, C. ; Milosavljevic, I. ; Grabar, R. ; Chow, D.H.
Author_Institution :
HRL Labs. LLC, Malibu, CA, USA
Abstract :
We report an X-band class-E GaN power amplifier with built-in electroformed heat sink. Our novel approach for packaging, cooling and interconnecting allows “known good die” GaN MMICs to be combined with other components (Si, SiGe, passives etc) and enable GaN based RF front-ends. The presented amplifier offers continuous wave (CW) output power (Pout) of 34 dBm (power density of 3.2W/mm) with associated power added efficiency (PAE) of 72% and drain efficiency (DE) of 82% when biased at 15V. At 21V the PA offers CW Pout of 36.4 dBm (power density of 5.5W/mm) and associated PAE of 57%. Compared to identical PAs mounted on Cu-W heat sinks with silver epoxy and AuSn eutectic solder this corresponds to a 2x and 1.5x improvement in Pout respectively.
Keywords :
MMIC; eutectic alloys; gallium compounds; heat sinks; power amplifiers; thermal management (packaging); CW pout; GaN; MMIC; RF front-ends; X band highly efficient power amplifier; advanced thermal management; built-in electroformed heat sinks; continuous wave output power; cooling; drain efficiency; eutectic solder; packaging; power added efficiency; silver epoxy; voltage 15 V; voltage 21 V; Gallium nitride; Heat sinks; MMICs; Packaging; Power amplifiers; Power generation; Silver; Gallium nitride; packaging; power amplifiers; thermal management;
Conference_Titel :
Microwave Symposium Digest (IMS), 2013 IEEE MTT-S International
Conference_Location :
Seattle, WA
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4673-6177-4
DOI :
10.1109/MWSYM.2013.6697330
