GaN C-Band HPA for Phased-Array Applications
In the UMS GH25-10 GaN MMIC technology a C-band high power amplifier (HPA) has been realized. The current design is primarily intended for use in a space-based SAR system with a center frequency of 5.4 GHz and a sweep bandwidth of 100 MHz. To enable reuse of the amplifier in other radar systems such as weather radar, a large bandwidth is required. A design bandwidth from 5 to 6 GHz has been used. Simulation and measurement data from on-wafer and mounted samples will be shown. Showing more than 50 W output power with 45% efficiency the HPA shows sufficient performance to be used in a module for state-of-the-art active electronically scanned arrays. The measured output power and efficiency are a record for MMIC amplifiers.
50 Watt S-band Power Amplifier in 0.25 µm GaN technology
A 50 W S-band High Power Amplifier in the UMS GH25-10 technology is presented. In order to increase the output power per area the size of the transistors is increased beyond the maximum size modelled by the foundry. For this reason the design procedure included the measurements of a transistor and the creation of a scalable Angelov-GaN model with the use of EM simulations. An output matching design approach is adopted which intrinsically optimizes the transistor harmonic load impedance. The results show that the amplifier delivers an output power of over 50 W within the frequency range from 3.05 to 3.5 GHz at a PAE of more than 62 %. The maximum measured output power is 63 W with a PAE of 65 %.
A 15-watt dual band HBT MMIC power amplifier
A monolithic HBT power amplifier is presented for S and C band applications. The amplifier provides greater than 15 watts of peak output power at S and C bands with approximately 18 dB of gain. The amplifier also provides a minimum of 10 watts output power across the entire frequency range that encloses both bands.