Broadband E-band power amplifier MMIC based on an AlGaN/GaN HEMT technology with 30 dBm output power

This paper reports on the design of a power amplifier covering the entire E-band satellite communication bands (71-76 GHz & 81-86 GHz) and demonstrating a high saturated output power of more than 1 W across this frequency range of interest. The circuit was fabricated by using an advanced 100 nm GaN high-electron-mobility transistor technology with an AlN-interlayer epitaxy, demonstrating a transit frequency ft of more than 100 GHz and a power density as high as 1.9 W/mm at 94 GHz in continuous-wave load-pull operation. A state-space approach is applied for the device modeling, which enables a successful first-pass circuit design.