SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES

X-parameter measurement on a GaN HEMT device: complexity reduction study of load-pull characterization test setup

Yelin Wang

+ Author Affiliations

 Corresponding author: Yelin Wang, E-mail: walyerwong@hotmail.com

PDF

Abstract: Characterization of power transistors is an indispensable step in the design of radio frequency and microwave power amplifiers. A full harmonic load-pull measurement setup is normally required for the accurate and comprehensive characterization of RF power transistors. The setup is usually highly complex, leading to a relatively high hardware cost and low measurement throughput. This paper presents X-parameter measurement on a gallium nitride (GaN) high-electron-mobility transistor and studies the potential of utilizing an X-parameter-based modeling technique to highly reduce the complexity of the harmonic load-pull measurement setup for transistor characterization. During the X-parameter measurement and characterization, load impedance of the device is tuned and controlled only at the fundamental frequency and is left uncontrolled at other higher harmonics. However, it proves preliminarily that the extracted X-parameters can still predict the behavior of the device with moderate to high accuracy, when the load impedance is tuned up to the third-order harmonic frequency. It means that a fundamental-only load-pull test setup is already enough even though the device is to be characterized under load tuning up to the third-order harmonic frequency, by utilizing X-parameters.

Key words: X-parametersGaN HEMTpower amplifierload-pulldevice characterizationbehavioral modeling



[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
[10]
[11]
[12]
[13]
[14]
[15]
[16]
[17]
[18]
[19]
Fig. 1.  An illustration of the effect of $S/T$-type $X$-parameters.

Fig. 2.  Block diagram of the measurement setup for device characterization and $X$-parameters measurement.

Fig. 3.  Illustration of PNA-X/NVNA power budget calculation.

Fig. 4.  (Color online) Load settings during the device characterization and $X$-parameter measurement, fundamental: black, second-order: blue, and third-order: red.

Fig. 5.  (Color online) Validation of the effect of $S/T$-type $X$-parameters for the third-order harmonic, (a) load settings, and (b) comparison of measured (circles) and simulated (lines) Pdel and PAE versus the phase of $\Gamma_3$. Pavs $=$ 30 dBm.

Fig. 6.  (Color online) Validation of the effect of $S/T$-type $X$-parameters for the third-order harmonic, (a) load settings, and (b) comparison of measured (circles) and simulated (lines) Pdel and PAE versus the phase of $\Gamma_3$. Pavs $=$ 19 dBm.

Fig. 7.  (Color online) Validation of the effect of $S/T$-type $X$-parameters for the second-order harmonic, (a) load settings, and (b) comparison of measured (circles) and simulated (lines) Pdel and PAE versus the phase of $\Gamma_2$. Pavs $=$ 23 dBm.

Fig. 8.  (Color online) Validation of the effect of $S/T$-type $X$-parameters for the second-order harmonic, (a) load settings, and (b) comparison of measured (circles) and simulated (lines) Pdel and PAE versus the phase of $\Gamma_2$. Pavs $=$ 14 dBm.

Fig. 9.  (Color online) Validation of the effect of $S/T$-type $X$-parameters for the second-order harmonic, (a) load settings, and (b) comparison of measured (circles) and simulated (lines) Pdel and PAE versus the magnitude of $\Gamma_2$. Pavs $=$ 23 dBm, phase of $\Gamma_2$ is fixed at 210$^\circ$.

Fig. 10.  Maximum difference between measured and simulated (a) Pdel, and (b) PAE, as a function of Pavs and the No. of the load tuning position used in the device characterization and $X$-parameter measurement. Load at the third-order harmonic is swept in the same way as in Figure 5 and 6.

Fig. 11.  Maximum difference between measured and simulated (a) Pdel, and (b) PAE, as a function of Pavs and the No. of the load tuning position used in the device characterization and $X$-parameter measurement. Load at the second-order harmonic is swept in the same way as in Figures 7 and 8

Fig. 12.  Power transfer characteristics of the DUT under one of the load settings shown in Figure 4.

Fig. 13.  Maximum difference between measured and simulated (a) Pdel, and (b) PAE, as a function of Pavs and No. of the load tuning position used in the device characterization and $X$-parameter measurement. The load at the third-order harmonic is swept in the same way as in Figure 5 and 6. Carrier frequency is 1.8 GHz.

Fig. 14.  Maximum difference between measured and simulated (a) Pdel, and (b) PAE, as a function of Pavs and No. of the load tuning position used in the device characterization and $X$-parameter measurement. The load at the second-order harmonic is swept in the same way as in Figure 7 and 8. The carrier frequency is 1.8 GHz.

Fig. 15.  Maximum difference between measured and simulated (a) Pdel, and (b) PAE, as a function of Pavs and No. of the load tuning position used in the device characterization and $X$-parameter measurement. Load at the third-order harmonic is swept in the same way as in Figure 5 and 6. Carrier frequency is 2.7 GHz.

Fig. 16.  Maximum difference between measured and simulated (a) Pdel, and (b) PAE, as a function of Pavs and No. of the load tuning position used in the device characterization and $X$-parameter measurement. The load at the second-order harmonic is swept in the same way as in Figure 7 and 8. Carrier frequency is 2.7 GHz.

Fig. 17.  Illustration of the potential in reducing in the number of fundamental load tuning points, attributed to the effect the fundamental $S/T$-type $X$-parameters.

DownLoad: CSV
DownLoad: CSV
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
[10]
[11]
[12]
[13]
[14]
[15]
[16]
[17]
[18]
[19]
  • Search

    Advanced Search >>

    GET CITATION

    shu

    Export: BibTex EndNote

    Article Metrics

    Article views: 2439 Times PDF downloads: 29 Times Cited by: 0 Times

    History

    Received: 09 July 2014 Revised: Online: Published: 01 February 2015

    Catalog

      Email This Article

      User name:
      Email:*请输入正确邮箱
      Code:*验证码错误
      Yelin Wang. X-parameter measurement on a GaN HEMT device: complexity reduction study of load-pull characterization test setup[J]. Journal of Semiconductors, 2015, 36(2): 024004. doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/36/2/024004 Y L Wang. X-parameter measurement on a GaN HEMT device: complexity reduction study of load-pull characterization test setup[J]. J. Semicond., 2015, 36(2): 024004. doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/36/2/024004.Export: BibTex EndNote
      Citation:
      Yelin Wang. X-parameter measurement on a GaN HEMT device: complexity reduction study of load-pull characterization test setup[J]. Journal of Semiconductors, 2015, 36(2): 024004. doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/36/2/024004

      Y L Wang. X-parameter measurement on a GaN HEMT device: complexity reduction study of load-pull characterization test setup[J]. J. Semicond., 2015, 36(2): 024004. doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/36/2/024004.
      Export: BibTex EndNote

      X-parameter measurement on a GaN HEMT device: complexity reduction study of load-pull characterization test setup

      doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/36/2/024004
      More Information
      • Corresponding author: E-mail: walyerwong@hotmail.com
      • Received Date: 2014-07-09
      • Accepted Date: 2014-09-25
      • Published Date: 2015-01-25

      Catalog

        /

        DownLoad:  Full-Size Img  PowerPoint
        Return
        Return