A 52-58 GHz Power Amplifier With 18.6-dBm Saturated Output Power for Space Applications
Y.-F. Tsao1,2, and H.-T. Hsu1
Published in:
IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. II Express Briefs, vol. 68, no. 6, pp. 1927-1931 (2021).
Abstract:
This brief presents a 52-58 GHz power amplifier (PA) with constant output power across the entire band. A new topology based on the impedance transformation of transmission lines was adopted as the inter-stage matching network. Compared with the conventional 2-section LC matching topology, our approach reduced the matching loss by 1.5 dB at 54 GHz. Such topology made the design capable of operating at a frequency close to 80% of the unit-current-gain cut-off frequency (fT) specified by the device technology. Additionally, stacked-FET was adopted as the power stage for the output power enhancement in a broadband sense. Implemented in the commercially available 0.15-µm GaAs pseudomorphic high-electron-mobility transistor (pHEMT) process, the 2-stage PA demonstrated a small-signal gain of 14.7 dB, a saturated output power (Psat) of 18.6 dBm, and a maximum power-added-efficiency (PAE) of 18.2% at 54 GHz.
1 International College of Semiconductor Technology, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 30010, Taiwan
2 GaN Elektronik, Ferdinand-Braun-Institut, Leibniz-Institut für Höchstfrequenztechnik, 12489 Berlin, Germany
Index Terms:
Power amplifier, transmission lines, unit-current-gain cut-off frequency, stacked-FET, pseudomorphic high-electron-mobility transistor.
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