CW microwave amplification from circuit-stabilized epitaxial GaAs transferred electron devices

Abstract

Stable c.w. reflection-type amplification at C- X-band frequencies has been obtained from circuit-stabilized GaAs transferred electron devices biased as high as three times threshold. An instantaneous fractional bandwidth exceeding 50% and a small-signal linear gain near 10 dB have been realized with a single device for center frequencies from 5.0 to 9.0 GHz. A -1-dB-gain compression-power output typically above 100 mW and a total saturated power output near 1 W have been measured. A narrow-band doubly tuned amplifier response with a linear gain of 40 dB has also been measured. With a noise figure of 15 dB, these amplifiers have a dynamic range in excess of 90 dB. Highly nonlinear effects have been observed for large-signal narrow-band operation. Both gain and hysteresis effects have been observed. Large-signal effects of bias, frequency, and power level on amplifier performance have been measured.