Class-B power MMIC amplifiers with 70 percent power-added efficiency

Author

Bahl, Inder J. ; Griffin, Edward L. ; Geissberger, Arthur E. ; Andricos, Constantine ; Brukiewa, Thomas F.

Author_Institution

ITT Gallium Arsenide Technol. Center, Roanoke, VA, USA

Volume

37

Issue

9

fYear

1989

fDate

9/1/1989 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1315

Lastpage

1320

Abstract

C-band monolithic amplifiers using high-efficiency, refractory metal, multifunction-self-aligned-gate (MSAG) processing have been designed, fabricated, and tested. The class-B single-ended amplifier design uses reactive termination for higher order harmonics and achieves a power-added efficiency (PAE) of 70% with associated gain of 8 dB and output power of 1.7 W over the 5-6-GHz band. Power output, gain, and PAE are discussed as a function of input power, drain-source voltage, and gain-source voltage, and data on noise figure, AM-to-PM conversion, and second- and third-harmonic generation are included. The monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) exhibited excellent performance including -26 and -28 dBc second- and third-harmonic levels, respectively, at the maximum efficiency, clearly demonstrating the importance of careful harmonic termination

Keywords

MMIC; field effect integrated circuits; linear integrated circuits; microwave amplifiers; power amplifiers; power integrated circuits; 1.7 W; 5 to 6 GHz; 70 percent; 8 dB; AM-to-PM conversion; C-band; MSAG; SHF; class-B; drain-source voltage; gain-source voltage; harmonic termination; input power; monolithic amplifiers; monolithic microwave integrated circuits; multifunction-self-aligned-gate; power FETs; power MMIC amplifiers; power output; power-added efficiency; reactive termination; refractory metal SAG process; second-harmonic generation; single-ended amplifier design; third-harmonic generation; Gain; High power amplifiers; MMICs; Noise figure; Power amplifiers; Power generation; Power system harmonics; Process design; Testing; Voltage;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Microwave Theory and Techniques, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9480

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/22.32213

Filename

32213