This paper reports on X-band Gallium Nitride (GaN) chipsets for cost-effective 20W transmit-receive (T/R) modules. The chipset components include a GaN-on-Si monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) driver amplifier (DA), a GaN-on-SiC high power amplifier (HPA) with GaAs matching circuits, a high-gain GaN-on-Si HPA with a GaAs output matching circuit, and a GaN-on-Si MMIC switch (SW). By utilizing either combination of the DA or single high-gain HPA, the configurations of two T/R module types can be realized. The GaN-on-Si MMIC DA demonstrates an output power of 6.4-7.4W, an associate gain of 22.3-24.6dB and a power added efficiency (PAE) of 32-36% over 9.0-11.0GHz. A GaN-on-SiC HPA with GaAs matching circuits exhibited an output power of 20-28W, associate gain of 7.8-10.7dB, and a PAE of 40-56% over 9.0-11.0GHz. The high-gain GaN-on-Si HPA with a GaAs output matching circuit exhibits an output power of 15-30W, associate gain of 27-30dB, and PAE of 26-33% over 9.0-11.0GHz. The GaN-on-Si MMIC switch demonstrates insertion losses of 1.1-1.3dB and isolation of 10.1-14.7dB over 8.0-11.5GHz. By employing cost-effective circuit configurations, the costs of these chipsets are estimated to be about half that of conventional chipsets.

A methodology for obtaining semi-custom high-power amplifiers (HPAs) is described. The semi-custom concept pertains to the notion that a selectable output power is attainable by replacing only transistors. To compensate for the mismatch loss, a new output matching network that can be easily tuned by wiring is proposed. Design equations were derived to determine the circuit parameters and specify the bandwidth limitations. To verify this methodology, a semi-custom HPA with GaN HEMTs was fabricated in the S-band. A selectable output power from 240 to 150 W was successfully achieved while maintaining a PAE of over 50% in a 19% relative bandwidth.

The design, fabrication and characterization of GaN based varactor diodes are presented. MOCVD was used for layer growth and the DC characteristic of 4 µm diameter diodes showed a turn-on voltage of 0.5 V, a breakdown voltage of 21 V and a modulation ratio of 1.63. High frequency characterization allowed obtaining the diode equivalent circuit and observed the bias dependence of the series resistance. The diode cutoff frequency was 900 GHz. A large-signal model was developed for the diode and the device power performance was evaluated. A power of 7.2 dBm with an efficiency of 16.6% was predicted for 47 GHz to 94 GHz doubling.

This work addresses the enormous efficiency and linearity potential of optimized AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistors (HEMT) in conventional Doherty linear base-station amplifiers at 2.7 GHz. Supported by physical device simulation, the work further elaborates on the use of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs in high-speed current-switch-mode class-D (CMCD)/class-S MMICs for data rates of up to 8 Gbit/s equivalent to 2 GHz RF-operation. The device needs for switch-mode operation are derived and verified by MMIC results in class-S and class-D operation. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first time 2 GHz-equivalent digital-switch-mode RF-operation is demonstrated with GaN HEMTs with high efficiency.

In this paper we review our recent work developing the growth of AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) grown on SiC (0001) by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PA-MBE). State-of-the-art AlGaN/GaN HEMTs have been achieved using MBE-grown material. Buffer leakage was an important limiting factor for early devices. We have shown that by appropriately controlling the Al/N flux ratio during growth of the nucleation layer on SiC(0001), low-leakage GaN buffers can be subsequently grown. In addition, a "modulated growth" technique was developed to achieve large area uniformity and surface morphology control. High-performance HEMTs were fabricated utilizing these two techniques. On 200 nm gate-length devices, at 4 GHz an output power density of 8.4 W/mm was obtained with a power-added efficiency (PAE) of 67% at a drain bias of 30 V. At a higher drain bias (42 V), 13.7 W/mm with a PAE of 55% was achieved.