A novel 2.6–6.4 GHz highly integrated broadband GaN power amplifier

• Main Authors: Liu, Bei, Mao, Mengda, Khanna, Devrishi, Boon, Chirn-Chye, Choi, Pilsoon, Fitzgerald, Eugene A.
• Other Authors: School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: Engineering::Electrical and electronic engineering; Gallium Nitride; Broadband
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/104484; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/50016
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

In this letter, a novel methodology to achieve output broadband matching is proposed. Based on this methodology, a broadband gallium nitride power amplifier (PA) with input matching and stabilization circuit integrated on-chip is designed. The implemented PA achieves a maximum drain efficiency of 62%-79.2% from 2.6 to 6.4 GHz (84.4% fractional bandwidth), with a saturated output power (Psat) of 34.3-35.8 dBm, while providing a gain larger than 10 dB. When tested with 802.11ac VHT80 MC9 (80 MHz, 256-QAM) with 11.3-dB peak-to-average power ratio, PA achieves a drain efficiency of 22.1%-25.2% with an average output power of 23-25.4 dBm across the whole band, while meeting the standard specification of error vector magnitude below -32 dB.