Inverse Class-E Amplifier With Transmission-Line Harmonic Suppression

This paper reports on the design methodology and experimental characterization of the inverse class-E power amplifier. A demonstration amplifier with excellent second and third harmonic-suppression levels has been designed, constructed, and measured. The circuit fabricated using a 1.2-mm gate-width GaAs MESFET is shown to be able to deliver 22-dBm output power at 2.3 GHz. The amplifier achieve a peak power-added efficiency of 64% and drain efficiency of 69%, and exhibits 11.6 dB power gain when operated from a 3-V supply voltage. Comparisons of simulated and measured results are given with good agreement between them being obtained. Experimental results are presented for the amplifier´s response to Gaussian minimum shift keying modulation, where a peak error vector modulation value of 0.6% is measured.