Design of a High-Power and High-Efficiency GaN-HEMT VCO Based on an Inverse Class-F Amplifier

Abstract

This letter proposes a high-power and high-efficiency GaN-HEMT voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO). The VCO consists of a coupled-line coupler, an inverse class-F amplifier, and a novel frequency-tunable stepped-impedance resonator (SIR). Using a harmonic control circuit and a parasitic parameter compensation circuit, the power amplifier (PA) operates in the inverse class-F state to achieve high efficiency. The feedback circuit uses a coupled-line coupler instead of the traditional coupling capacitor to control feedback power precisely. The measurement results show that the VCO with an oscillation frequency of 2.41–2.45 GHz achieves a maximum conversion efficiency of 74.5% at 2.44 GHz and an output power of 40.2 dBm. It is a candidate for the microwave source in a wireless power transmission system.