A concurrent 2.6/3.5GHz dual-band Doherty power amplifier with matching network based on composite right/left-handed unit cell

Abstract

This paper presents a dual-band matching network based on composite right/left-handed transmission line (CRLH-TL) unit cell to optimize the impedance matching of dual-band Doherty power amplifier (DPA). The number of CRLH unit cells in the matching network can be flexibly determined by theoretical calculation to achieve impedance matching at any two frequencies. Moreover, A dual-band DPA is designed and fabricated using GaN HEMT CGH40010H to verify the performance of the proposed network. The designed DPA can deliver a saturation output power over 43.3dBm and the drain efficiency (DE) over 55.2% in the frequencies of 2.6GHz and 3.5GHz. Meantime, the drain efficiency at the 5dB output power back-off (OPBO) is over 44% at 2.6GHz and 3.5GHz.