A High-Efficiency 15-Watt GaN HEMT X-Band MMIC Power Amplifier

This paper presents the design and fabrication of high-efficiency GaN/AIGaN MMICs for X-band frequencies (8-12 GHz) on 6-inchs Si-SiC substrate. This three-stage MMIC PA is designed and realized in microstrip technology using reactive matching method. The measurement results of this PA achieves a PAE higher than 33% and an output power higher than 42 dBm in the CW-mode operation between 8 and 12 GHz. In the 10-12 GHz frequency range, the PA obtains a PAE higher than 37%, a corresponding output power of 16-22W, and an associated power gain of 17 dB. The total size of the chip is 7.5 mm
²
.