Sabyasachi Nayak

High efficiency Ka-band Gallium Nitride power amplifier MMICs

The design and performance of two high efficiency Ka-band power amplifier MMICs utilizing a 0.15μm GaN HEMT process technology is presented. Measured in-fixture continuous wave (CW) results for the 3-stage balanced amplifier demonstrates up to 11W of output power and 30% power added efficiency (PAE) at 30GHz. The 3-stage single-ended design produced over 6W of output power and up to 34% PAE. The die size for the balanced and single-ended MMICs are 3.24×3.60mm2 and 1.74×3.24mm2 respectively.

A K-Band 5W Doherty Amplifier MMIC Utilizing 0.15µm GaN on SiC HEMT Technology

The design and performance of a K-Band Doherty amplifier MMIC is presented. The monolithic 2-stage amplifier was fabricated with a dual field plate 0.15um GaN on SiC HEMT process technology. Measured continuous wave results at 23GHz demonstrate over 5W of saturated output power and up to 48% power added efficiency. Peak efficiency occurs at approximately 1dB of gain compression and the amplifier maintains 25% power added efficiency at 8dB of input power back off from P1dB.

High efficiency Ka-band power amplifier MMICs fabricated with a 0.15µm GaN on SiC HEMT process

The design and performance of two high efficiency Ka-band power amplifier MMICs utilizing a 0.15µm GaN HEMT process technology is presented. Measured in-fixture continuous wave (CW) results for the 3-stage amplifiers demonstrates 8–9W of output power for the balanced MMIC and 4.5–6W for the single-ended configuration. The associated power added (PAE) efficiency of both amplifiers exceeds 25% at Ka-band. The die sizes for the balanced and single-ended MMICs are 2.55×3.80mm² and 1.39×3.42mm² respectively.

A high power Q-band MMIC power amplifier based on dual-recess 0.15 /spl mu/m pHEMT

This paper demonstrates a three stage Q-band power amplifier based on TriQuints three metal interconnect (3MI) technology and 0.15/spl mu/m dual-recess GaAs pHEMT process. The design, fabrication and experimental results of the MMIC amplifier are discussed. The amplifier employed a balanced configuration to achieve higher output power and good return loss. Each half consisted of three amplification stages with a 1:2:2 drive ratio and 12.8 mm of total FET periphery. Utilizing dual recess pHEMT technology the amplifier can be biased at Vds = 6V with 2A quiescent current; an equivalent of 150mA/mm current density. The amplifier can deliver 34 dBm of output power over a 41-46 GHz bandwidth with 15dB gain and typically -15dB return loss. The chip dimensions are 3.4 mm /spl times/ 4.2 mm. Due to the high-integration level, this Q-band MMIC amplifier enables low cost millimeter-wave RF equipment for potential point to point radio communications and military applications.

Ka-band MMIC high power amplifier (4W at 30GHz) with record compact size

We report a compact and efficient Ka-band high power amplifier with output power of over 4W at 30GHz and record compact area of 8.63mm/sup 2/ in a Ka-band high power amplifier (HPA) class. The bias capacitors (/spl sim/80pF) are included inside the MMIC so that it reduces the assembly cost in the package or module. We employed a dual-recessed 0.15/spl mu/m power pHEMT production process and 2mil-substrate technology to achieve high output power with high efficiency and compact design. The output power (CW measurement) is 36.2dBm, and, the gain, 22.5dB, at 30GHz. These results set the benchmark of CW output power per millimeter square area for the reported performance of Ka-band HPA MMICs.

A Ka/Q-band 2 Watt MMIC power amplifier using dual recess 0.15 /spl mu/m PHEMT process

A compact, high power amplifier MMIC operating at Ka/Q-band was designed and developed using TriQuints 3MI dual-recess 0.15 /spl mu/m gate length GaAs PHEMT technology. This single-ended three-stage power amplifier, with chip size of 7.44 mm/sup 2/ (3.145 mm /spl times/ 2.367 mm), on 100 /spl mu/m GaAs substrate achieved 33 dBm (2 Watt) P/sub 1dB/ CW output power and up to 2.5 Watts saturated output power with small signal gain of 21 dB over 33-36 GHz. The RF response of this amplifier can be further extended to cover frequencies of 32 - 38 GHz. For 37 - 38 GHz, this power amplifier demonstrated 32 dBm (1.6 Watt) saturated output power and 31 dBm P/sub 1dB/ with 18 dB small signal gain. This state-of-the-art power amplifier MMIC is a smallest chip size and highest output power density from a single MMIC reported to date at Ka/Q-band.

A 1/2 Watt High Linearity and Wide Bandwidth PHEMT Driver Amplifier MMIC for Millimeter-Wave Applications

This paper presents a high linearity and wide bandwidth driver/power amplifier MMIC, which covered entire Q-band. The MMIC amplifier was designed for 38GHz point-to-point radio application using TriQuints 0.15 mum power GaAs PHEMT technology. This balanced three-stage power amplifier, with chip size of 2.9 mm2 on 100 mum GaAs substrate, achieved 27 dBm P1dB output power with nominal 18 dB small signal gain over 33-40 GHz. The RF performance of this power amplifier can be further extended to cover frequencies of 33-48 GHz. Meanwhile, high output linearity was measured with lower than -34 dBc third order intermodulation (IM3) at 19 dBm per tone output power level. This state-of-the-art millimeter wave power amplifier sets the benchmark of linearity and bandwidth for a single MMIC chip reported to date among Q-band medium power amplifiers

High Performance Dual Recess 0.15-μm pHEMT for Multi-Function MMIC Applications

This paper describes a dual recess 0.15-μm gate length pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor (pHEMT) technology for multi-function MMIC applications at microwave and millimeter-wave frequencies. This 0.15-μm power pHEMT not only produces high efficiency power amplification at Ka- and Q-band but also exhibits excellent noise and third-order-intercept (TOI) performance. At 35 GHz, output power density of 0.86 W/mm, power gain of 5.6 dB, and power-added efficiencies of 38 to 44 % were demonstrated. Low noise figure of 1.0 dB at 26 GHz was also measured. Additionally, we have demonstrated a gain of 11.7 dB and a TOI of 35 dBm at 18 GHz for a 300-μm unit cell. This microwave device technology is suitable for producing high performance power amplifier, low noise receiver, high linearity, transmit/receive and multi-function MMICs.

Design and performance of 16–40GHz GaN distributed power amplifier MMICs utilizing an advanced 0.15µm GaN process

This paper describes the design and measured performance of 16-40GHz power amplifier MMICs fabricated with an advanced state of the art 0.15μm Gallium Nitride (GaN) process technology. The process features a 50μm thick Silicon Carbide (SiC) substrate and compact transistor layouts with individual source grounding vias (ISV). The designs utilize a non-uniform distributed power amplifier (NDPA) topology with Ruthroff connected output transformers. The 3-stage single-ended amplifier demonstrates 4.1-8.7 W of output power over a 16-40GHz bandwidth. For the second MMIC two of the single-ended amplifiers are balanced to produce 7.0-16.0 W over the same frequency range.

High Efficiency 5W/10W 32 - 38GHz Power Amplifier MMICs Utilizing Advanced 0.15µm GaN HEMT Technology

This paper describes the design and measured performance of two high efficiency Ka-band 32 - 38 GHz power amplifier MMICs fabricated with an advanced 0.15μm Gallium Nitride (GaN) HEMT technology process. The process features a 50μm thin Silicon Carbide (SiC) substrate and compact transistor layouts with individual source via (ISV) grounding. The designs utilize an optimum transistor arrangement with both single-ended and balanced approaches. The 2-stage single-ended power amplifier MMIC demonstrates 4.5 - 5.2 W of output power with 25 - 34% PAE over 32 - 38 GHz band. For the second MMIC, two 3-stage power amplifiers are combined to achieve 9.0 - 11.2 W output power with 30 - 35% PAE over the same frequency range. A benchmark of 1.45W/mm2 FOM (output power to die area ratio) with high efficiency is reported at this frequency band.