A High-Power and Broadband GaN SPDT MMIC Switch Using Gate-Optimized HEMTs

Abstract

A high-power, broadband monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) single-pole double-throw (SPDT) switch is designed with gate-optimized high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) using AlGaN/Gallium nitride (GaN) technology. The foot length of the gate is varied from 200 to 250 nm, and the head length is varied from 500 to 750 nm in the T-gate structure to optimize the radio frequency (RF) performance. The SPDT switch is designed in a series–shunt–shunt topology using gate topology as a design parameter. The switch has achieved an insertion loss better than 0.75 dB throughout the 3.5–13.5-GHz bandwidth. It can transmit 30-W output power at 0.1-dB compression point and handle 47.5-dBm input power at <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${P}_{\textrm{1\,dB}}$</tex-math> </inline-formula> . The isolation is above 25 dB, and the return loss is better than 11 dB. With its low insertion and high power-handling capacity in broadband, the SPDT switch shows state-of-the-art performance for high-power communication systems and radar applications.