5-W Microwave Integrated Circuits (MIC) Gallium Nitride (GaN) Class F Power Amplifier Operating at 2.8 GHz

摘要

A key component of microwave telecommunication systems is the power amplifier (PA). The design parameters of a communication system, such as link performance, power budget, and thermal design are typically driven by the power amplifier's linearity, output power, and efficiency. These design parameters of PA are the key to ensuring an efficient system because the PA is the most power- consuming circuit in the communication system. In an effort to have students involved in this research area, the International Microwave Symposium (IMS) sponsored by IEEE Microwave Theory and Technique Society (MTT-S) has introduced a High Efficiency Power Amplifier Design Competition. In this report, we present a 2.8-GHz, 5-W, highly efficient PA based on a wide bandgap gallium nitride (GaN) high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) device (CGH 40010f from CREE). The PA design was presented at the 2010 IMS Student Design Competition and achieved the competition goal of output power greater than 5 W with a measured power added efficiency (PAE) of 61% at 2.8 GHz.