• ETRI Journal
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.498-501
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• 2014

A C-band 50 W high-power microwave monolithic integrated circuit amplifier for use in a phased-array radar system was designed and fabricated using commercial $0.25{\mu}m$ AlGaN/GaN technology. This two-stage amplifier can achieve a saturated output power of 50 W with higher than 35% power-added efficiency and 22 dB small-signal gain over a frequency range of 5.5 GHz to 6.2 GHz. With a compact $14.82mm^2$ chip area, an output power density of $3.2W/mm^2$ is demonstrated.

• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.279-284
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• 2016

This paper presents a two stage L-band power amplifier realized with a $0.32{\mu}m$ Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) CMOS technology. To overcome a low breakdown voltage limit of MOSFET, stacked-FET structures are employed, where three transistors in the first stage amplifier and four transistors in the second stage amplifier are connected in series so that their output voltage swings are added in phase. The stacked-FET structures enable the proposed amplifier to achieve a 21.5 dB small-signal gain and 15.7 dBm output 1-dB compression power at 1.9 GHz with a 122 mA DC current from a 4 V supply. The amplifier delivers a 19.7 dBm. This paper presents a two stage L-band power amplifier realized with a $0.32{\mu}m$ Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) CMOS technology. To overcome a low breakdown voltage limit of MOSFET, stacked-FET structures are employed, where three transistors in the first stage amplifier and four transistors in the second stage amplifier are connected in series so that their output voltage swings are added in phase. The stacked-FET structures enable the proposed amplifier to achieve a 21.5 dB small-signal gain and 15.7 dBm output 1-dB compression power at 1.9 GHz with a 122 mA DC current from a 4 V supply. The amplifier delivers a 19.7 dBm saturated output power with a 16 % maximum Power Added Efficiency (PAE). A bond wire fine tuning technology enables the amplifier a 23.67 dBm saturated output power with a 20.4 % maximum PAE. The die area is $1.9mm{\times}0.6mm$.

• Journal of electromagnetic engineering and science
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.20-28
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• 2017

A fully integrated dual-band CMOS power amplifier (PA) is developed for 802.11n WLAN applications using wafer-level package (WLP) technology. This paper presents a detailed design for the optimal impedance of dual-band PA (2 GHz/5 GHz PA) output transformers with low loss, which is provided by using 2:2 and 2:1 output transformers for the 2 GHz PA and the 5 GHz PA, respectively. In addition, several design issues in the dual-band PA design using WLP technology are addressed, and a design method is proposed. All considerations for the design of dual-band WLP PA are fully reflected in the design procedure. The 2 GHz WLP CMOS PA produces a saturated power of 26.3 dBm with a peak power-added efficiency (PAE) of 32.9%. The 5 GHz WLP CMOS PA produces a saturated power of 24.7 dBm with a PAE of 22.2%. The PA is tested using an 802.11n signal, which satisfies the stringent error vector magnitude (EVM) and mask requirements. It achieved an EVM of -28 dB at an output power of 19.5 dBm with a PAE of 13.1% at 2.45 GHz and an EVM of -28 dB at an output power of 18.1 dBm with a PAE of 8.9% at 5.8 GHz.

• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.425-430
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• 2019

This work describes the design and characterization of a X-band power amplifier (PA) monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) using a $0.25{\mu}m$ gate length gallium nitride (GaN) high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) technology. The developed X-band power amplifier MMIC has small signal gain of over 22.7 dB and saturated output power of 43.02 dBm (20.04 W) over the entire band of 9 to 10 GHz. Maximum saturated output power is a 43.84 dBm (24.21 W) at 9.5 GHz. Its power added efficiency (PAE) is 41.0~51.24% and the chip dimensions are $3.7mm{\times}2.3mm$, generating the output power density of $2.84W/mm^2$. The developed GaN power amplifier MMIC is expected to be applied in a variety of X-band radar applications.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.546-549
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• 2013

A Ka-band 6-W high power microwave monolithic integrated circuit amplifier for use in a very small aperture terminal system requiring high linearity is designed and fabricated using commercial 0.15-${\mu}m$ GaAs pHEMT technology. This three-stage amplifier, with a chip size of 22.1 $mm^2$ can achieve a saturated output power of 6 W with a 21% power-added efficiency and 15-dB small signal gain over a frequency range of 28.5 GHz to 30.5 GHz. To obtain high linearity, the amplifier employs a class-A bias and demonstrates an output third-order intercept point of greater than 43.5 dBm over the above-mentioned frequency range.

• Journal of electromagnetic engineering and science
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.147-152
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• 2017

This paper presents a frequency doubler operating at G-band that exceeds the maximum oscillation frequency ($f_{max}$) of the given transistor technology. A common-source transistor is biased on class-B to obtain sufficient output power at the second harmonic frequency. The input and output impedances are matched to achieve high output power and high return loss. The frequency doubler is fabricated in a commercial 150-nm GaAs pHEMT process and obtains a measured conversion gain of -5.5 dB and a saturated output power of -7.5 dBm at 184 GHz.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.98-101
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• 2007

A fully integrated 5-GHz CMOS power amplifier for IEEE 802.11a WLAN applications is implemented using $0.18-{\mu}m$ CMOS technology. An on-chip transmission-line transformer is used for output matching network and voltage combining. Input balun, inter-stage matching components, output transmission line transformer and RF chokes are fully integrated in the designed amplifier so that no external components are required. The power amplifier occupies a total area of $1.7mm{\times}1.2mm$. At a 3.3-V supply voltage, the amplifier exhibits a 22.6-dBm output 1-dB compression point, 23.8-dBm saturated output power, 25-dB power gain. The measured power added efficiency (PAE) is 20.1 % at max. peak, 18.8% at P1dB. When 54 Mbps/64 QAM OFDM signal is applied, the PA delivers 12dBm of average power at the EVM of -25dB.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.247-253
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• 2009

We propose a Ku-band driver and high-power amplifier monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) employing a compensating gate bias circuit using a commercial 0.5 ${\mu}m$ GaAs pHEMT technology. The integrated gate bias circuit provides compensation for the threshold voltage and temperature variations as well as independence of the supply voltage variations. A fabricated two-stage Ku-band driver amplifier MMIC exhibits a typical output power of 30.5 dBm and power-added efficiency (PAE) of 37% over a 13.5 GHz to 15.0 GHz frequency band, while a fabricated three-stage Ku-band high-power amplifier MMIC exhibits a maximum saturated output power of 39.25 dBm (8.4 W) and PAE of 22.7% at 14.5 GHz.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.972-980
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• 2016

An ultra-wideband microwave monolithic integrated circuit high-power amplifier with excellent input and output return losses for phased array jammer applications was designed and fabricated using commercial $0.25-{\mu}m$ AlGaN/GaN technology. To improve the wideband performance, resistive matching and a shunt feedback circuit are employed. The input and output return losses were improved through a balanced design using Lange-couplers. This three-stage amplifier can achieve an average saturated output power of 15 W, and power added efficiency of 10% to 28%, in a continuous wave operation over a frequency range of 6 GHz to 18 GHz. The input and output return losses were demonstrated to be lower than -15 dB over a wide frequency range.

• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.181-187
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• 2019

In this paper, we demonstrated a power amplifier monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) for X-band radar applications. It utilizes commercial $0.25{\mu}m$ GaN-based high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) technology and delivers more than 20 W of output power. The developed GaN-based power amplifier MMIC has small signal gain of over 22 dB and saturated output power of over 43.3 dBm (21.38 W) in a pulse operation mode with pulse width of $200{\mu}s$ and duty cycle of 4% over the entire band of 9 to 10 GHz. The chip dimensions are $3.5mm{\times}2.3mm$, generating the output power density of $2.71W/mm^2$. Its power added efficiency (PAE) is 42.6-50.7% in the frequency bandwidth from 9 to 10 GHz. The developed GaN-based power amplifier MMIC is expected to be applied in a variety of X-band radar applications.