Malibu lab eyes X-band with GaN-based MMIC
HRL Laboratories in Los Angeles, CA, says that it has made two GaN-based amplifier HFET MMICs with "unprecedented" performance.
The first, a 33 GHz (Ka-band) power amplifier MMIC, outputs up to 2.8 W with a power-added efficiency (PAE) of 27%. Ka-band devices are used in two-way broadband satellite communication links (see related story).
HRL s GaN team has also developed a low noise amplifier MMIC operating at 3-18 GHz that features 20 dB gain and a minimum noise figure of 2.4 dB.
Often touted as suitable devices for next-generation cellular base station amplifiers, GaN HFETs offer higher outputs and breakdown voltages compared with their GaAs counterparts.
According to HRL, the Ka-band development should also pave the way to significant improvements in "X-band" power amplifiers (operating at 8-12 GHz), beyond the 43%-efficient, 20 W amplifier performance reported by HRL itself in 2000 (see related story).
The latest MMICs from HRL were grown using MBE on a SiC substrate. HRL has developed two different MMIC architectures, whose cost and performance can be tailored to a specific application.
Fabricated on a 3-inch diameter wafer currently, HRL says that the latest MMICs could be transferred to a 4-inch wafer process. This would substantially reduce device cost, provided there is volume demand for the advanced MMICs.
