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Published on: February 6, 2014
A Ku-Band GaN-on-Si MMIC Power Amplifier with an Asymmetrical Output Combiner
Javier Del Pino1, Sunil Lalchand Khemchandani1, Daniel Mayor-Duarte2
1Institute for Applied Microelectronics (IUMA), Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 35017 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.
Abstract:
In this paper, a microwave monolithic integrated circuit (MMIC) high-power amplifier (HPA) for Ku-band active radar applications based on gallium nitride on silicon (GaN-on-Si) is presented. The design is based on a three-stage architecture and was implemented using the D01GH technology provided by OMMIC foundry. Details on the architecture definition and design process to maximize delivered power are provided along with stability and thermal analyses. To optimize the amplifier performance, an asymmetry was included at the output combiner. Experimental results show that the HPA achieves a 39.5 dBm pulsed-mode output power, a peak linear gain of 23 dB, a drain efficiency of 27%, and good input/output matching in the 16-19 GHz frequency range. The chip area is 5 × 3.5 mm2 and for the measurements was mounted on a custom-made module. These results demonstrate that GaN-on-Si-based Solid-State Power Amplifiers (SSPAs) can be used for the implementation of Ku-band active radars.
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