Study of a Q-band Power Amplifier for Satellite Communication Systems

In the article the results of experimental studies of the power amplifier Q-band chip-based NC116150C-4345P10. This microcircuit is made on the basis of gallium nitride (GaN) technology and has high reliability, efficiency, and relatively low cost. In the production of power amplifiers GaN technology has been widely used due to the high breakdown voltage of a wide band gap [1]–[4]. The Q-band is still rather poorly mastered and the study of the characteristics of amplifiers at these frequencies is fraught with some difficulties. The paper presents a technique for measuring the characteristics of a power amplifier in the Q- band. The schemes for measuring the linear and amplitude characteristics of the amplifier, the results of experimental studies and signal spectra at the maximum output power of the amplifier are presented. An experimental study of the characteristics of the amplifier made it possible to determine the possibility of its application in satellite communication systems, when calculating the energy potential of the Earth-satellite radio link and the reliability of the satellite channel.