V-Band GaN Power Amplifier MMICs with High Power-Bandwidth and Low Gain Compression for RF Inter-Satellite Links

• Published in: 2024 IEEE/MTT-S International Microwave Symposium - IMS 2024 pp. 854 - 857
• Main Authors: Friesicke, Christian, Van Raay, Friedbert, Krause, Sebastian, Cimbili, Bharath, Bruckner, Peter, Quay, Rudiger, Colzani, Alberto, Traversa, Antonio, Fonte, Alessandro
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 16.06.2024
• Subjects: Gallium nitride; HEMTs; high-power amplifiers; Microwave communication; MMICs; Power amplifiers; Power system measurements; Radio frequency; satellite communications; V-band; Voltage
• ISSN: 2576-7216
• DOI: 10.1109/IMS40175.2024.10600246

This paper presents two V-band power amplifiers that are designed and fabricated using Fraunhofer IAF's 0.15-µm gate-length GaN/SiC HEMT technology. Both amplifiers, a unit PA and a balanced PA comprising two of the unit PAs, are four-stage designs that target the upper V-band for wideband inter-satellite links with high output power at low gain compression. When mounted on a test-jig, biased at a de- rated drain voltage and characterized with a CW stimulus, the unit amplifier and balanced amplifier exhibit a linear gain of, respectively, 19.6-21.8 dB and 18.6-21.0 dB, in the band between 57-70 GHz. In the same band, the amplifiers deliver a saturated output power of 31.9-33.4 dBm (1.5-2.2 W) at a PAE of 9.4-14.0% (unit PA) and 33.5-34.9dBm (2.2-3.1 W) at a PAE of 8.6-11.0% (balanced PA). Both amplifiers exhibit good amplitude linearity, with <0.3 dB difference between OP 2dB and P sat across the band for the balanced amplifier. To the authors' best knowledge, these results represent the best power-bandwidth performance of published PAs in the V-band.