A 4-W X-band compact coplanar high-power amplifier MMIC with 18-dB gain and 25% PAE

The performance of a compact coplanar microwave monolithic integrated circuit (MMIC) amplifier with high output power in the X-band is presented. Based on our 0.3-/spl mu/m gate-length GaAs power pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor (PHEMT) process on 4-in wafer, this two-stage amplifier, having a chip size of 16 mm/sup 2/, averages 4-W continuous-wave (CW) and 25% mean power-added efficiency (PAE) in the X-band, with more than 18-dB linear gain. Peak output powers of P/sub -1dB/=36.3dBm (4.3 W) and P/sub sat/ of 36.9 dBm (4.9 W) at 10 GHz with a PAE of 50% were also measured. Compared to previously reported X-band coplanar high-power amplifiers, this represents a chip size reduction of 20%, comparable to the size of compact state-of-the-art microstrip power amplifiers.     

Broadband integrated millimeter-wave up- and down-converter GaAs MMICs

The architecture and design of broadband, highly integrated up- and down-converters in GaAs pHEMT technology is described. Two up-converters and two down-converters have been designed to reduce the complexity and cost of broadband millimeter-wave systems by integrating a number of functions into compact MMICs. Broadband performance was achieved for approximately 17-35GHz (low band) and 30-45 GHz (high band) with up-conversion input-referred,third-order intercept point exceeding 12 and 10 dBm, respectively, with good 2/spl times/ local oscillator leakage and excellent gain control. To the best of the authors' knowledge,this is the highest level of integration achieved for up- and down-converters at these frequencies.