High power efficiency X-band GaAlAs/GaAs HBT

Author

Wang, N.L. ; Sheng, N.H. ; Chang, M.F. ; Ho, W.J. ; Sullivan, G.J. ; Sovero, E. ; Higgins, J.A. ; Asbeck, P.M.

Author_Institution

Rockwell Int., Thousand Oaks, CA, USA

fYear

1989

fDate

7-9 Aug 1989

Firstpage

160

Lastpage

166

Abstract

Excellent power performance from a common-emitter GaAlAs/GaAs HBT (heterojunction bipolar transistor) at 10 GHz is reported. Record high added efficiency of 67.8% and 11.6-dB associated gain were obtained, with 0.226-W output power. HBTs of various sizes were tested, and 55% added efficiency and 10-dB associated gain were obtained regularly. From the largest available device 0.63 W with 8-dB gain was obtained. The base current crowding effect does not appear in the HBTs tested. The operation of the HBT is analyzed and shown to be close to that of the class-B amplifier. The collector-current behavior with respect to the power level is explained. Harmonic content is found to be very low. Compared with other solid-state power devices at 10 GHz the HBT demonstrates the highest added efficiency and associated gain at high-output-power condition. In addition, the low HBT input Q factor eases broadband matching, making it the best candidate for microwave power application

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; aluminium compounds; gallium arsenide; heterojunction bipolar transistors; power transistors; solid-state microwave devices; 0.226 W; 0.63 W; 11.6 dB; 67.8 percent; 8 dB; GaAlAs-GaAs; HBT; X-band; broadband matching; class-B amplifier; collector-current behavior; efficiency; input Q factor; microwave power application; solid-state power devices; Doping; Fingers; Fixtures; Gain measurement; Gallium arsenide; Heterojunction bipolar transistors; Inductance; Power generation; Scattering parameters; Testing;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

High Speed Semiconductor Devices and Circuits, 1989. Proceedings., IEEE/Cornell Conference on Advanced Concepts in

Conference_Location

Ithaca, NY

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/CORNEL.1989.79831

Filename

79831