X-Band GaN Chipsets for Cost-Effective 20W T/R Modules

SUMMARY This paper reports on X-band Gallium Nitride (GaN) chipsets for cost-e ff ective 20W transmit-receive (T / R) modules. The chipset components include a GaN-on-Si monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) driver amplifier (DA), a GaN-on-SiC high power ampli-fier (HPA) with GaAs matching circuits, a high-gain GaN-on-Si HPA with a GaAs output matching circuit, and a GaN-on-Si MMIC switch (SW). By utilizing either combination of the DA or single high-gain HPA, the configurations of two T / R module types can be realized. The GaN-on-Si MMIC DA demonstrates an output power of 6.4–7.4W, an associate gain of 22.3–24.6dB and a power added e ffi ciency (PAE) of 32–36% over 9.0– 11.0GHz. A GaN-on-SiC HPA with GaAs matching circuits exhibited an output power of 20–28W, associate gain of 7.8–10.7dB, and a PAE of 40– 56% over 9.0–11.0GHz. The high-gain GaN-on-Si HPA with a GaAs output matching circuit exhibits an output power of 15–30W, associate gain of 27–30dB, and PAE of 26–33% over 9.0–11.0GHz. The GaN-on-Si MMIC switch demonstrates insertion losses of 1.1–1.3dB and isolation of 10.1– 14.7dB over 8.0–11.5GHz. By employing cost-e ff ective circuit configu-rations, the costs of these chipsets are estimated to be about half that of conventional chipsets