A New Approach to Microwave Power Amplifier Design Based on the Experimental Characterization of the Intrinsic Electron-Device Load Line

This paper presents a new original approach to power amplifier design, which is mainly based on low-frequency nonlinear empirical electron device (ED) characterization. The proposed technique enables the same level of accuracy provided by expensive load-pull measurement systems to be obtained through a relatively simple and low-cost setup. Moreover, ED currents and voltages related to reliability issues can be directly monitored. Different experimental examples based on power GaAs and GaN field-effect transistors are provided to demonstrate the validity of the proposed approach.