Title :
Design of high-power, high-efficiency 60-GHz MMICs using an improved nonlinear PHEMT model
Author :
Tang, O. S Andy ; Duh, K. H George ; Liu, S. M Joseph ; Smith, Phillip M. ; Kopp, William F. ; Rogers, Thomas J. ; Pritchard, David J.
Author_Institution :
Sanders Associates Inc., Nashua, NH, USA
fDate :
9/1/1997 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
This work describes the design and nonlinear modeling of two V-band monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) power amplifiers using a nonlinear high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) model developed specifically for very short gate length pseudomorphic HEMTs (PHEMTs). Both circuits advance the state-of-the-art of V-band power MMIC performance. The first, a single-ended design, produced 293 mW of output power with a record 26% power-added efficiency (PAE) and 9.9 dB of power gain at 62.5 GHz when measured on-wafer. The second MMIC, a balanced design with on-chip input and output Lange couplers for power combining, generated a record 564 mW of output power (27.5 dBm) with 21% PAE and 9.8 dB power gain. The MMIC´s are passivated, thinned to 2 mils, and down-biased to 4.5 V for high reliability space applications. These excellent first-pass MMIC results are attributed to the use of an optimized 0.1-/μm PHEMT cell structure and a design based on millimeter-wave on-wafer device characterization, together with a new and very accurate large signal analytical FET model developed for 0.1-/μm PHEMTs
Keywords :
HEMT integrated circuits; MMIC power amplifiers; equivalent circuits; field effect MIMIC; integrated circuit design; integrated circuit modelling; integrated circuit reliability; millimetre wave amplifiers; nonlinear network synthesis; power amplifiers; power combiners; semiconductor device models; 0.1 micron; 21 percent; 26 percent; 293 mW; 4.5 V; 564 mW; 60 to 62.5 GHz; 9.8 dB; 9.9 dB; EHF; Lange couplers; MIMIC; MM-wave onwafer device characterization; MMIC power amplifiers; V-band; balanced design; high electron mobility transistor model; high reliability space applications; high-efficiency MMICs; high-power MMICs; monolithic microwave integrated circuit; nonlinear PHEMT model; onchip couplers; optimized PHEMT cell structure; power combining; pseudomorphic HEMTs; single-ended design; Gain; HEMTs; High power amplifiers; Integrated circuit modeling; MMICs; Microwave amplifiers; Microwave integrated circuits; Monolithic integrated circuits; PHEMTs; Power generation;
Journal_Title :
Solid-State Circuits, IEEE Journal of
