A Compact Fully Integrated GaN High Power Amplifier for C-X Band Applications

Nathalie Deltimple (1) , Victor Dupuy (1) , Eric Kerherve (1) , Patrick Garrec (2) , Yves Mancuso (3) , Jean-Philippe Plaze (3) , Benoit Mallet-Guy (3) , Claude Auric (3)

1 IMS - Laboratoire de l'intégration, du matériau au système
2 Thales Airborne Systems
3 THALES Airborne Systems [Elancourt]

A fully integrated two-stage power amplifier isdescribed for 4-6 W saturated output power over a 4GHz to11GHz frequency range. The PA topology is chosen to obtain thebest bandwidth, output power and Power Added Efficiency(PAE). The output stage is composed of two unit power cells andthe power recombination is made by a stacked balun. Thedifferential input of the power stage is provided by the first stagewhich realized a single to differentiel conversion. The PA isdesigned and fabricated in a 0.25μm GaN integrated technologyfrom UMS foundry. Both simulations and measurement resultsare presented. This GaN PA provides 38 dBm of maximumsaturated power and 18% to 31% peak PAE in the 4GHz to11GHz frequency range.

Mots clés: GaN; High Power Amplifier (HPA); power combining; vertically stacked balun

Domaines: Micro et nanotechnologies/Microélectronique; Electronique

Nathalie Deltimple, Victor Dupuy, Eric Kerherve, Patrick Garrec, Yves Mancuso, et al.. A Compact Fully Integrated GaN High Power Amplifier for C-X Band Applications. IEEE RADAR Conference, Oct 2014, Lille, France. ⟨hal-01090553⟩