Two Q-band power amplifier MMICs in 100 nm AlGaN/GaN HEMT technology

Two power amplifier (PA) MMIC designs with more than 1W of output power in the 37.5-42.5 GHz Q-band downlink band are presented. The circuits are manufactured using the Fraunhofer IAF 100 nm AlGaN/GaN process. The first one is a two-stage design in microstrip line (MSL) technology, whereas the second one is a three-stage design in grounded coplanar waveguide (GCPW) technology, which enables effective output power combining and compact layout at Q-band. A maximum output power of 2.1 W (33.2 dBm) is measured at 39 GHz with a power-added efficiency (PAE) of 14.7%, corresponding to a power density of 1.45 W/mm.