HRL Laboratories Demonstrates High Performance X-Band GaN Power Amplifier
HRL Laboratories of Malibu, CA has achieved a major milestone in the development of GaN (gallium nitride) microwave power technology with the first demonstration of a high-efficiency 20 W GaN power amplifier (GaN PA) at X-band using a total gate periphery of 4 mm. Under bias conditions for high efficiency, the GaN PA produces 21.4 W with 43% power added efficiency (PAE) under continuous-wave (CW) operation. When biased for high CW output power, the GaN PA produces 23.8 W with 35% PAE. These are the highest CW power levels and efficiencies reported for a GaN PA at X-band. HRL s success marks the first time a GaN PA surpasses high-power (> 10 W) GaAs PHEMT PAs in performance. "These results clearly show that GaN HFET (heterostructure field effect transistor) technology is ready for the next step, the development of high performance monolithic microwave integrated circuits," said Bill Stanchina, manager of HRL s Microelectronics Laboratory. "HRL has assembled a very talented team, led by Dr. Chanh Nguyen, which enabled our rapid progress to this noteworthy accomplishment."
The key to HRL s success is its pioneering work in both epitaxial growth and device processing. HRL has developed a proprietary growth process using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) which has virtually eliminated material defects common to other reported GaN devices, thereby enabling the scaling. MBE growth also produces device characteristics with less than 5% standard deviation over the 2-inch diameter SiC substrate, a six-fold improvement over previously reported results.
This technology, targeting near term applications in broad array of military hardware, is expected to draw widespread interest for commercial applications such as wireless base stations. GaN, with its capabilities for high frequency (beyond X-Band), high linearity and high temperature operation is the next generation technology for low noise and power amplifiers replacing today s commercial GaAs PHEMT. This is an enabling technology for new generations of military microwave systems utilizing phased arrays and commercial broadband communications.
HRL Laboratories is the jointly owned central research laboratory for Hughes Electronics and Raytheon.
Web: http://www.hrl.com
Web site: http://www.hrl.com
