Design of a High Efficiency Power Amplifier with Both Output and Input Harmonic Tuning in 0.15 μm-GaN Technology
This work presents a high-efficiency on-chip harmonic tuned power amplifier (PA) monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) for millimeter-wave applications. The efficiency of MMIC PA at high frequency can be im-proved by accurate harmonic tuning method and proper harmonic terminations at both the input and output port of the tran-sistor. The output second and third harmonic impedance are controlled simultaneously by the proposed matching network. Besides,the input second harmonic impedance is tuned to the optimum region to achieve high-efficiency performance. Based on 0.15 µm GaN-on-SiC (Gallium Nitride on Silicon Carbide) process,the proposed PA topology and design method are verified by simulation and measurement. The fabricated PA has a measured bandwidth of 21.4 to 23 GHz. The PAE (Power Added Efficiency) is larger than 39.2％ and the output power is larger than 33 dBm within the measured bandwidth. The maximum measured drain efficiency is 63.7％ with an output power of 34.1 dBm at 22.2 GHz. The corresponding PAE is 50.2％. Close agreement between simulated and measured results is achieved for this PA. The total size of the PA is 1.87 mm2,resulting in a power density of 1.31 W/mm2. Meanwhile,the proposed PA has a high-efficiency and power densi-ty performance compared with other reported high-efficiency PAs.
drain efficiencyGaN PAsecond and third harmonic tunedinput harmonic tuned
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