A C-Band Internally-Matched High Efficiency GaN Power Amplifier

作者:Ma Xiao Hua*; Wei Jia Xing; Cao Meng Yi; Lu Yang; Zhao Bo Chao; Dong Liang; Wang Yi; Hao Yue
来源:Chinese Physics Letters, 2014, 31(10): 108401.
DOI:10.1088/0256-307X/31/10/108401

摘要

We present a design and realization of a high efficiency C-Band (5.2 GHz-5.8 GHz) internally-matched gallium nitride (GaN) power amplifier (PA). To reduce power dissipation and to achieve high efficiency, both input and output matching networks, along with 2nd-harmonic modulation circuits, are designed accurately according to the source and load optimum impedances extracted by source-pull and load-pull measurements. The PA realizes an excellent rf performance under a pulsed condition, demonstrating a maximum output power of 52.2 dBm (164 W) with at least 13.5 dB gain in the frequency range from 5.2 GHz to 5.8 GHz (10% relative bandwidth). At the same time, a power-added efficiency (PAE) of 69.4% is observed at 5.6 GHz and over 65.0% throughout the whole bandwidth. The PAE is the state-of-art performance for C-band GaN high-electron-mobility transistor PA with such high output power, to the best of our knowledge.