On the Design of Broadband Hybrid Amplifiers Using Non-Uniform Transmission Lines as Impedance Matching Networks

• Published in: IEEE access Vol. 7; pp. 19670 - 19677
• Main Authors: Fernandez, Miguel, Ver Hoeye, Samuel, Vazquez, Carlos, Alonso Gonzalez, Leticia, Las-Heras, Fernando
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Piscataway IEEE 2019; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Acceptable noise levels; Amplifier design; Broadband amplifiers; Broadband communication; CAD; circuit optimization; Computer aided design; Gain; hybrid integrated circuits; Impedance; Impedance matching; Low noise; Noise levels; Noise reduction; non-uniform transmission lines; Optimization; Power transmission lines; Simulators; Transistors; Transmission lines
• ISSN: 2169-3536; 2169-3536
• DOI: 10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2897290

In this paper, an approach for the practical design of broadband amplifiers in hybrid technology is presented. It is based on the use of non-uniform transmission lines to implement impedance matching networks, which are synthesized exploiting the powerful optimization tools available in the most common computer-aided design software packages. The versatility of the proposed technique makes it suitable for the design of a wide variety of broadband amplifiers. Furthermore, it is easily implementable in most microwave simulators and allows a considerable design time reduction, since it can be applied in a systematic way and avoids the use of external tools. To validate the technique, it is applied to the design of a low noise amplifier using a single encapsulated transistor. A prototype was implemented, providing 10-dB flat gain from 1 to 12 GHz, noise figure under 2.5 dB, and acceptable input and output matching, which agrees with the simulation data.