Abstract
This letter presents the design and experimental characterization of a K-band high power amplifier (HPA) monolithic microwave-integrated circuit (MMIC) for the next generation of very high throughput satellites (vHTS). The MMIC is a three-stage balanced amplifier realized on a commercial 100-nm gate length gallium nitride on silicon (GaN-Si) technology. The design is compliant with space reliability constraints and, despite the larger thermal resistance and losses shown by the silicon (Si) substrate with respect to the more common silicon carbide (SiC), the realized HPA delivers, in pulsed condition, a peak output power larger than 41 dBm in the operative band from 17.3 to 20.2 GHz, with an associated power added efficiency (PAE) and gain up to 40% and 26 dB, respectively. In continuous wave (CW) operative conditions and with a backside temperature of 85 °C, the MMIC delivers a minimum output power and PAE of 39.4 dBm and 28%, respectively. Moreover, a 24-h test at saturated power has shown almost negligible performance degradations, thus providing confidence in the selected GaN-Si technology's robustness.
Highlights
C ONNECTING anything to internet anytime and everywhere is already the technological leitmotif of our daily life
Even if the Lange shows a wideband coupling performance, the impedances at its input ports are slightly different from each others, which in turn introduces unbalancing among the loads synthesized across each device in the last stage of the high power amplifier (HPA)
As a solution to mitigate this drawback and the unavoidable coupling among adjacent components, we introduce physical asymmetries among the symmetric lumped components, like the capacitors highlighted in green boxes in the picture
Summary
C ONNECTING anything to internet anytime and everywhere is already the technological leitmotif of our daily life. To this end, constellations of very high throughput satellites (vHTS) will be deployed around the globe and integrated with the terrestrial networks through satellite-to-ground links, mostly in K -band [4]. Constellations of very high throughput satellites (vHTS) will be deployed around the globe and integrated with the terrestrial networks through satellite-to-ground links, mostly in K -band [4] Such spacecraft will be embarked with multiple-beam active antennas offering communication volumes even larger than 1 Tb/s per satellite. A 24-h test in CW at saturated power has shown negligible performance variations, providing confidence in the selected GaN-Si technology’s robustness
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