DESIGN AND SIMULATION OF AN X-BAND SOLID STATE POWER AMPLIFIER

Abstract

In this paper design and simulation of an X-band Power Amplifier (9.3-9.9 GHz) has been carried out. This kind of amplifiers are used in various types of radars like weather warning radars, vehicle detection radars, frequency hopping radars and phased array radars. Different types of semiconductor devices are studied/ analyzed during solid state device selection phase; however both Gallium Nitride (GaN) and Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) devices are considered appropriate for this type of design. GaAs pseudomorphic induced high electron mobility transistor (pHEMT) has been used for our design. The amplifier has been optimized for low noise, moderate power output, small return loss (input & output) and low cost. The optimization has been carried out with Advance System Design software (ADS) by Agilent. Measured results at the design frequency show overall noise figure around 2.8 dB, a linear gain of 42 dB, input and output return loss over -12 dB with an associated power at 1dB gain compression point is in excess of 2930 dBm. Using mixed elements (discrete and distributed) design technique it has been confirmed that such amplifiers are easy to build and provide cost effective solution. Keywords— HEMTs, GaAs MMICs, Solid State Power Amplifier, Cascade, Radar applications