Miniaturization of Ka-Band High Power Amplifier by 0.15 µm GaN MMIC Technology

Abstract

We demonstrate a compact and efficient Ka-band high power amplifier with output power of 34.5dBm at 30 GHz by using 0.15 μm GaN technology. This paper reports record compact area of 2.38 mm^2 in a Ka-band high power amplifier (HPA) class. We employed 0.15 μm GaN process on 50 μm thick SiC substrate technology to achieve high output power with high efficiency and compact design. The advantage of a GaN PA in commercial millimeter-wave market is illustrated by comparing it to similar GaAs power amplifiers.