A Ka‐Band 6‐W High Power MMIC Amplifier with High Linearity for VSAT Applications

A Ka‐band 6‐W high power microwave monolithic integrated circuit amplifier for use in a very small aperture terminal system requiring high linearity is designed and fabricated using commercial 0.15‐μm GaAs pHEMT technology. This three‐stage amplifier, with a chip size of 22.1 mm2 can achieve a saturated output power of 6 W with a 21% power‐added efficiency and 15‐dB small signal gain over a frequency range of 28.5 GHz to 30.5 GHz. To obtain high linearity, the amplifier employs a class‐A bias and demonstrates an output third‐order intercept point of greater than 43.5 dBm over the above‐mentioned frequency range.