Evaluation of commercial GaN HEMTS for pulsed power applications

The present study investigates the behaviour and performance of commercially available GaN HEMTs provided by Cree Inc. The output power variation at pulse repetition frequencies (PRFs) in the range 100-450 kHz is presented. Rise and fall times are also investigated at different PRFs and power levels. The pulsed RF waveforms are obtained by switching the gate bias of the transistor on and completely off to ensure that the device goes through full transients for every pulse. The RF frequency at which the study is conducted is 3.5 GHz. The aim of the study is to assess the suitability of commercial GaN HEMTs to pulsed RF applications such as Radar.