X-band 100 W solid-state power amplifier using a 0.25 µM GaN HEMT technology

This article describes the successful development and the performance of X-band 100 W pulsed SSPA using a 25 W GaN-on-SiC high electron mobility transistor (HEMT). The GaN HEMT with a gate length of 0.25 µm and a total gate width of 8 mm were fabricated. The GaN HEMT provide a linear gain of 8 dB with 25 W output power operated at 30 V drain voltage in continuous wave (CW)-operation with a power added efficiency of 43% at X-band. It also shows a maximum output power density of 3 W/mm. The X-band pulsed SSPA exhibited an output power of 100 W (50 dBm) with a power gain of 53 dB in a frequency range of 9.2-9.5 GHz. This 25 W GaN HEMT and X-band 100 W pulsed SSPA are suitable for the radar systems and related applications in X-band. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 57:212-216, 2015