Title :
High power-density monolithic linear X-band power amplifier using a low-cost MESFET technology
Author :
Negra, Renato ; Vogt, Rolf ; Bächtold, Werner
Author_Institution :
Lab. for Electromagn. Fields & Microwave Electron., Swiss Fed. Inst. of Technol., Zurich, Switzerland
Abstract :
A physically small high-efficiency linear class-A monolithically integrated power amplifier is presented in this work. The power amplifier was fabricated on a general-purpose high-volume 0.6 μm GaAs MESFET process. The small chip size of 0.32 mm2 could be obtained through the use of microstrip transmission lines instead of lumped components. The circuit delivers a maximum linear output power of 24.2 dBm. The monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) exhibits a power density per chip area of 0.82 W/mm2 at 12.2 GHz. At present, this value is amongst the highest reported in the open literature. A high power added efficiency for class-A operation of 33.9 % as well as a maximum small-signal gain of 8.3 dB was achieved. Using a general-purpose process, instead of a dedicated power process, allows the integration of the power amplifier with other RF front-end blocks in next-generation X-band communication systems targeting mass-production.
Keywords :
III-V semiconductors; MESFET integrated circuits; MMIC power amplifiers; gallium arsenide; microstrip lines; 0.6 micron; 12.2 GHz; 33.9 percent; 8.3 dB; GaAs; GaAs MESFET; MMIC power density per chip area; RF front-end blocks; X-band communication systems; high power-density monolithic amplifier; high-efficiency class-A amplifier; linear X-band power amplifier; low-cost MESFET technology; microstrip transmission lines; power added efficiency; Distributed parameter circuits; Gallium arsenide; High power amplifiers; MESFETs; MMICs; Microstrip components; Microwave integrated circuits; Power amplifiers; Power generation; Power transmission lines;
Conference_Titel :
Microwave and Optoelectronics Conference, 2003. IMOC 2003. Proceedings of the 2003 SBMO/IEEE MTT-S International
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-7824-5
DOI :
10.1109/IMOC.2003.1242696