A 4.3-5.6 GHz Ultra-Wideband 10-W GaN Doherty Power Amplifier with Enhanced Load Modulation Bandwidth Extension Technique

Lin Yang; Ruilong Gao; Lu Cui; Yanchen Guo; Ming Zhang; Baozhu Wang; Xiuqing Zhang; Xiaojun Wang; Lei Duan

doi:10.1587/elex.20.20230550

This article has now been updated. Please use the final version.

A 4.3-5.6 GHz Ultra-Wideband 10-W GaN Doherty Power Amplifier with Enhanced Load Modulation Bandwidth Extension Technique

Lin Yang, Ruilong Gao, Lu Cui, Yanchen Guo, Ming Zhang, Baozhu Wang, Xiuqing Zhang, Xiaojun Wang, Lei Duan

Author information

Lin Yang
The School of Information Science and Engineering, Hebei University of Science and Technology
Ruilong Gao
The School of Information Science and Engineering, Hebei University of Science and Technology
Lu Cui
School of Microelectronics, Shandong University
Yanchen Guo
The School of Information Science and Engineering, Hebei University of Science and Technology
Ming Zhang
The School of Information Science and Engineering, Hebei University of Science and Technology
Baozhu Wang
The School of Information Science and Engineering, Hebei University of Science and Technology
Xiuqing Zhang
The School of Information Science and Engineering, Hebei University of Science and Technology
Xiaojun Wang
The School of Information Science and Engineering, Hebei University of Science and Technology
Lei Duan
HeBei Bowei Integrated Circuits Co., Ltd.

Keywords: Doherty power amplifier (DPA), GaN, monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC), high efficiency, ultra-wideband, 5G

JOURNAL FREE ACCESS Advance online publication

Article ID: 20.20230550

DOI https://doi.org/10.1587/elex.20.20230550

The final version of this article is now available: Vol. 21 (2024), No. 3 pp. 20230550-20230550

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Abstract

In this paper, a design methodology of a novel ultra-wideband (UWB) Doherty power amplifier (DPA) monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) fabricated in a 0.25 µm GaN-HEMT process is presented. To improve the saturated and 6-dB back-off efficiency of the DPA, an ultra-wideband enhanced load modulation technique is presented. A dual-frequency output impedance transformer (OIT) of the peaking amplifier is proposed to extend the enhanced load-modulation bandwidth. For verification, an ultra-wideband high efficiency DPA working over 4.3-5.6 GHz has been designed and fabricated. The measurement results show that the DPA exhibits a small-signal gain of 12.2-14.5 dB, an output power of 39.5-41 dBm, a 6-dB back-off power added efficiency (PAE) of 40.2%-47.4%, and a saturated PAE of 47%-54.6% over the entire band. The proposed DPA demonstrates the highest saturated and 6-dB back-off PAE among published broadband GaN MMIC DPAs operating in similar bandwidth.

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