News Article
API GaN power amplifiers set a new precedent
The gallium nitride devices are claimed to offer long life, reduced size and weight and better efficiencies than their travelling wave tube counterparts
API Technologies has expanded its line of GaN based power amplifiers to include designs that operate with output power levels from 500W to 1,000 watts and frequencies to 18 GHz.
These new pulsed, solid state power amplifiers (PAs) are making their debut at the IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium (IMS 2014) in Tampa, Florida.
These PAs can serve as a cost-effective replacement for travelling wave tubes (TWT), as the amplifiers’ long life and reduced size and weight offer better efficiencies than their TWT counterparts.
API’s GaN-based pulsed PAs can be used in numerous military and high end commercial applications including radar, communication transmitters, and jamming systems.
These power amplifiers are designed and manufactured in the United States and utilise in-house thin and thick film technologies as well as Surface Mount Technology (SMT).
The PAs are offered in hermetically sealed packages using mixed SMT and chip-and-wire manufacturing processes.
For high frequency applications, waveguide components can be integrated into the floor of the package to reduce combining losses and further increase functionality such as embedded harmonic filtering.
Other options of the GaN-based power amplifiers include sleep mode, blanking, forward/reverse power detection, discrete power supply designs for wide DC input voltage ranges, as well as microprocessor-based control features for bias optimization, temperature compensation, fault monitoring, and customer interferences
Dennis Barrick, technical marketing manager, RF/Microwave & Microelectronics (RF2M-US), API Technologies, says, “API’s feature-rich architecture combined with complementary design tools provide engineers a suite of customisable solutions to meet challenging requirements in performance, packaging, and lead times.”
These new pulsed, solid state power amplifiers (PAs) are making their debut at the IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium (IMS 2014) in Tampa, Florida.
These PAs can serve as a cost-effective replacement for travelling wave tubes (TWT), as the amplifiers’ long life and reduced size and weight offer better efficiencies than their TWT counterparts.
API’s GaN-based pulsed PAs can be used in numerous military and high end commercial applications including radar, communication transmitters, and jamming systems.
These power amplifiers are designed and manufactured in the United States and utilise in-house thin and thick film technologies as well as Surface Mount Technology (SMT).
The PAs are offered in hermetically sealed packages using mixed SMT and chip-and-wire manufacturing processes.
For high frequency applications, waveguide components can be integrated into the floor of the package to reduce combining losses and further increase functionality such as embedded harmonic filtering.
Other options of the GaN-based power amplifiers include sleep mode, blanking, forward/reverse power detection, discrete power supply designs for wide DC input voltage ranges, as well as microprocessor-based control features for bias optimization, temperature compensation, fault monitoring, and customer interferences
Dennis Barrick, technical marketing manager, RF/Microwave & Microelectronics (RF2M-US), API Technologies, says, “API’s feature-rich architecture combined with complementary design tools provide engineers a suite of customisable solutions to meet challenging requirements in performance, packaging, and lead times.”
