MESFET nonlinearities applied to predistortion linearizer design

Three different circuit topologies of predistortion linearizers are proposed using MESFETs biased at low drain bias. The design of a C-band linearizer using two 1- mu -gate-length devices is detailed, and the achieved results compare favorably with conventional designs which use Schottky diodes. The linearizer reduced by 10 dB the intermodulation products of a 10-W power amplifier operating at 6 GHz, and up to 4-dB back-off.< >