학술논문

A 220-GHz Power Amplifier With 60-mW Pout and 23.5% PAE in 130-nm InP HBT
Document Type
Periodical
Source
IEEE Microwave and Wireless Technology Letters IEEE Microw. Wireless Tech. Lett. Microwave and Wireless Technology Letters, IEEE. 34(4):431-434 Apr, 2024
Subject
Fields, Waves and Electromagnetics
Power amplifiers
Heterojunction bipolar transistors
Gain
Indium phosphide
III-V semiconductor materials
Power generation
Radio frequency
G-band power amplifier
high-efficiency power amplifier
InP HBT power amplifier
Language
ISSN
2771-957X
2771-9588
Abstract
We report a two gain-stage 220-GHz solid-state power amplifier (SSPA) monolithic integrated circuit (MMIC) having high output power ( $P_{\text {out}}$ ) and record power-added efficiency (PAE) exceeding 20% above 200-GHz operation. The transistor technology is 130-nm InP HBT. The $S_{21}$ mid-band gain is 13.9-dB. Typical return loss values for $\vert S_{11}\vert $ and $\vert S_{22}\vert $ exceed 6.3- and 12.7-dB, respectively. The dc power dissipation is 183-mW ( $P_{\text {dc}}$ ). From 217.5- to 225-GHz, the saturated output power $P_{\text {sat}}$ is 57–62-mW (1.78–1.93 W/mm RF power density) with 6.1–6.5 dB gain and 20%–23.8% PAE–peak values for $P_{\text {out}}$ , gain, and PAE are at 220-GHz operation. The 1-dB gain compression $P_{\text {out}}$ (OP $_{1\,\text {dB}}$ ) at 220-GHz is 31.6-mW with 15.9% PAE. The power amplifier is very compact, 0.192-mm2 in size. This work represents the first solid-state power amplifier operating above 200-GHz having PAE greater than 20%. Compared to the previous state-of-the-art, PAE has been increased by 1.36 times; however, when compared to 200-GHz PAs with similar output power, state-of-the-art PAE has instead been increased by 2.3 times.