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A highly efficient 3.5 GHz inverse class-F GaN HEMT power amplifier

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 June 2010

Paul Saad ,
Christian Fager ,
Hossein Mashad Nemati ,
Haiying Cao ,
Herbert Zirath  and
Kristoffer Andersson
Paul Saad*
Affiliation:
Department of Microtechnology and Nanoscience, GigaHertz Centre, Chalmers University of Technology, 9 Kemivägen, 41296 Gothenburg, Sweden.
Christian Fager
Affiliation:
Department of Microtechnology and Nanoscience, GigaHertz Centre, Chalmers University of Technology, 9 Kemivägen, 41296 Gothenburg, Sweden.
Hossein Mashad Nemati
Affiliation:
Department of Microtechnology and Nanoscience, GigaHertz Centre, Chalmers University of Technology, 9 Kemivägen, 41296 Gothenburg, Sweden.
Haiying Cao
Affiliation:
Department of Microtechnology and Nanoscience, GigaHertz Centre, Chalmers University of Technology, 9 Kemivägen, 41296 Gothenburg, Sweden.
Herbert Zirath
Affiliation:
Department of Microtechnology and Nanoscience, GigaHertz Centre, Chalmers University of Technology, 9 Kemivägen, 41296 Gothenburg, Sweden.
Kristoffer Andersson
Affiliation:
Department of Microtechnology and Nanoscience, GigaHertz Centre, Chalmers University of Technology, 9 Kemivägen, 41296 Gothenburg, Sweden.
*
Corresponding author: P. Saad Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

This paper presents the design and implementation of an inverse class-F power amplifier (PA) using a high power gallium nitride high electron mobility transistor (GaN HEMT). For a 3.5 GHz continuous wave signal, the measurement results show state-of-the-art power-added efficiency (PAE) of 78%, a drain efficiency of 82%, a gain of 12 dB, and an output power of 12 W. Moreover, over a 300 MHz bandwidth, the PAE and output power are maintained at 60% and 10 W, respectively. Linearized modulated measurements using 20 MHz bandwidth long-term evolution (LTE) signal with 11.5 dB peak-to-average ratio show that −42 dBc adjacent channel power ratio (ACLR) is achieved, with an average PAE of 30%, −47 dBc ACLR with an average PAE of 40% are obtained when using a WCDMA signal with 6.6 dB peak-to-average ratio (PAR).

Keywords

Power amplifierInverse-FGaN HEMTWidebandHigh efficiency
Type
Original Article
Information
International Journal of Microwave and Wireless Technologies , Volume 2 , Special Issue 3-4: European Microwave Week 2009 , August 2010 , pp. 317 - 324
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and the European Microwave Association 2010

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