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Multi-Octave bandwidth, 100 W GaN power amplifier using planar transmission line transformer

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 March 2017

Mhd Tareq Arnous ,
Zihui Zhang ,
Felix Rautschke  and
Georg Boeck
Mhd Tareq Arnous*
Affiliation:
Microwave Engineering Laboratory, Berlin Institute of Technology, 10587, Berlin, Germany EPCOS AG, A TDK Group Company, 81671, Munich, Germany
Zihui Zhang
Affiliation:
Microwave Engineering Laboratory, Berlin Institute of Technology, 10587, Berlin, Germany
Felix Rautschke
Affiliation:
Microwave Engineering Laboratory, Berlin Institute of Technology, 10587, Berlin, Germany
Georg Boeck
Affiliation:
Microwave Engineering Laboratory, Berlin Institute of Technology, 10587, Berlin, Germany Ferdinand-Braun-Institut, Leibniz-Institut fuer Hochfrequenztechnik, 12489, Berlin, Germany
*
Corresponding author: MHD T. Arnous Email: Tareq.arnous@epcos.com
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Abstract

In this paper, design, implementation, and experimental results of efficient, high-power, and multi-octave gallium nitride-high electron mobility transistor power amplifier are presented. To overcome the low optima source/load impedances of a large transistor, various topologies of a broadside-coupled impedance transformer are simulated, implemented, and measured. The used transformer has a flat measured insertion loss of 0.5 dB and a return loss higher than 10 dB over a decade bandwidth (0.4–4 GHz). The transformer is integrated at the drain and gate sides of the transistor using pre-matching networks to transform the complex optima source/load impedances to the appropriate impedances of the transformer plane. The measurement results illustrate a saturated output power ranged between 80 and 115 W with an average drain efficiency of 57% and gain of 10.5 dB across 0.6–2.6 GHz.

Keywords

Ultra-wideband power amplifierGaN-HEMTGuanella transformerHigh efficiencyHigh RF-power amplifierMulti-octaveWideband matching network
Type
Research Papers
Information
International Journal of Microwave and Wireless Technologies , Volume 9 , Special Issue 6: EuMW 2016 Special Issue , July 2017 , pp. 1261 - 1269
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and the European Microwave Association 2017 

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References

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