A High Efficiency Compact Class F GaN MMIC Power Amplifier for 5G Applications

A high performance compact MMIC class F power amplifier is demonstrated for 5G small cell applications by a 0.25-μm Gallium Nitride (GaN) High Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMT) technology. Both the 2
^nd
and 3
^rd
harmonic terminations are considered in the output matching network, and optimized utilizing the backside via parasitic inductance. Also, the device drain-source parasitic capacitance is considered together into the matching circuit for improving the bandwidth and high frequency operation. The measured peak output power P
_out
of the amplifier is 36.6 dBm at 6 GHz. Also, the measured peak power-added-efficiency (PAE) at a 1.5 dB gain compression is 65.8 %. Also, the measured 3-dB bandwidth is 1800 MHz. The design has a chip size of only 2.56 mm
²
.