A 41.5 dBm Broadband AlGaN/GaN HEMT Balanced Power Amplifier at K-Band

This paper describes the design and characterization of a broadband balanced power amplifier (BPA) MMIC at K-band. The utilized technology is the 0.25 µm AlGaN/GaN HEMT process provided by Fraunhofer IAF. The BPA is designed as a two-stage power amplifier (PA) with a total gate width (TGW) of 4.32 mm. More than 41.5 dBm of output power with a power-added efficiency (PAE) greater than 21 % are demonstrated between 21 and 23 GHz. Furthermore, the BPA exhibits a maximum saturated output power of 17W associated with 22 % of PAE at 22.5 GHz. A peak PAE of 30 % is realized at a drain supply voltage of 28 V.