J. Semicond. > 2013, Volume 34 > Issue 7 > 075005
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SEMICONDUCTOR INTEGRATED CIRCUITS

A 16.9 dBm InP DHBT W-band power amplifier with more than 20 dB gain

Hongfei Yao, Yuxiong Cao, Danyu Wu, Xiaoxi Ning, Yongbo Su and Zhi Jin

+ Author Affiliations

 Corresponding author: Jin Zhi, jinzhi@ime.ac.cn

DOI: 10.1088/1674-4926/34/7/075005

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Abstract: A two-stage MMIC power amplifier has been realized by use of a 1-μm InP double heterojunction bipolar transistor (DHBT). The cascode structure, low-loss matching networks, and low-parasite cell units enhance the power gain. The optimum load impedance is determined from load-pull simulation. A coplanar waveguide transmission line is adopted for its ease of fabrication. The chip size is 1.5$ \times $1.7 mm2 with the emitter area of 16$ \times $1 μm$ \times $15 μm in the output stage. Measurements show that small signal gain is more than 20 dB over 75.5-84.5 GHz and the saturated power is 16.9 dBm @ 79 GHz with gain of 15.2 dB. The high power gain makes it very suitable for medium power amplification.

Key words: power amplifier, W-band, DHBT, InP



[1]
Brown A, Brown K, Chen J, et al. W-band GaN power amplifier MMICs. IEEE MTT-S Int Dig, 2011:1 http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/5972571/?arnumber=5972571
[2]
Ingram D L, Chen Y C, Kraus. A 427 mW, 20% compact W-band InP HEMT MMIC power amplifier. IEEE RFIC Symp, 1999:95 http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/805247/?arnumber=805247
[3]
Maas S, Nelson B, Tait D. Intermodulation distortion in heterojunction bipolar transistors. IEEE Trans Microw Theory Tech, 1992, 40(3):442 doi: 10.1109/22.121719
[4]
Wei Y, Urteaga M, Griffith Z. 75 GHz 80 mW InP DHBT power amplifier. IEEE MTT-S Int Dig, 2003:919 http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/1212519/
[5]
Ellis G A, Kurdoghlian A, Bowen R, et al. W-band InP DHBT MMIC power amplifiers. IEEE MTT-S Int Dig, 2004:231 http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/1335853/
[6]
Paidi V K, Griffith Z, Wei Y, et al. G-band (140-220 GHz) and W-band (75-110 GHz) InP DHBT medium power amplifiers. IEEE Trans Microw Theory Tech, 2005, 53(2):598 doi: 10.1109/TMTT.2004.840662
[7]
O'Sullivan T, Le M, Partyka P, et al. Design of a 70 GHz power amplifier using a digital InP HBT process. IEEE Bipolar/BiCMOS Circuits and Technology Meeting, 2007:214
[8]
Cao Y X, Su Y B, Wu D Y, et al. A 75 GHz 13.92 dBm InP DHBT cascode power amplifier. J Infrared Millim Wave, 2012, 31(4):294 doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1010.2012.00294
[9]
Jin Z, Su Y B, Cheng W, et al. High-speed InGaAs/InP double heterostructure bipolar transistor with high breakdown voltage. Chin Phys Lett, 2008, 25(7):2683 doi: 10.1088/0256-307X/25/7/097
[10]
Jin Z, Su Y B, Cheng W, et al. High current multi-finger InGaAs/InP double heterojunction bipolar transistor with the maximum oscillation frequency 253 GHz. Chin Phys Lett, 2008, 25(8):3075 doi: 10.1088/0256-307X/25/8/091
[11]
Monzon C. A small dual-frequency transformer in two sections. IEEE Trans Microw Theory Tech, 2003, 51(4):1157 doi: 10.1109/TMTT.2003.809675
[12]
Cao Y X, Jin Z, Ge J, et al. A symbolically defined InP double heterojunction bipolar transistor large-signal model. Journal of Semiconductors, 2009, 30(12):37 http://www.jos.ac.cn/bdtxbcn/ch/reader/view_abstract.aspx?file_no=09060503&flag=1
[13]
Bohannan K, Sercu J, Moore J. Demystifying ports $ times $ grounds in ADS momentum. http://www.agilent.com. (20011-08-26)
[14]
O'Sullivan T. Design of millimeter-wave power amplifiers using InP heterojunction bipolar transistors. San Diego:University of California, 2009 http://escholarship.org/uc/item/0z87t0m5?view=search
[15]
Ge J, Cao Y X, Wu D Y, et al. A combined model with electro-thermal coupling and electromagnetic simulation for microwave multi-finger InP-based DHBTs. IEEE Trans Electron Devices, 2012, 59(3):673 doi: 10.1109/TED.2011.2177987
[16]
Wei Y. Wide bandwidth power heterojunction bipolar transistor and amplifiers. Santa Barbara:University of California, 2003
[17]
Wu Y, Li Y, Li S L. A dual-frequency transformer for complex impedances with two unequal sections. IEEE Microw Wireless Compon Lett, 2009, 19(2):77 doi: 10.1109/LMWC.2008.2011315
[18]
Freitag R G. A unified analysis of MMIC power amplifier stability. IEEE MTT-S Int Dig, 1992:297 http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/187971/?reload=true&arnumber=187971&punumber%3D646
[19]
Platzker A, Struble W, Hetzler K T. Instabilities diagnosis and the role of K in microwave circuits. IEEE MTT-S Int Dig, 1993:1185 http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/277082/?arnumber=277082
[20]
Struble W, Platzker A. A rigorous yet simple method for determining stability of linear N-port networks. GaAs IC Symp Dig, 1993:1 http://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/10012635537
[21]
Jackson R W. Rollett proviso in the stability of linear microwave circuits—a tutorial. IEEE Trans Microw Theory Tech, 2006, 40(3):993 http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/1603843/?arnumber=1603843
[22]
De Hek A P. Design, realisation and test of GaAs-based monolithic integrated X-band high-power amplifiers. Eindhoven:Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, 2002
Fig. 1.  Block diagram of the two-stage power amplifier (each triangle represents one cell unit).

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Fig. 2.  (a) Schematic of the four-cascode-pair cell unit. (b) Lay

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Fig. 3.  (a) The input matching network. (b) The output matching network.

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Fig. 4.  Ladder-like inter-stage matching network for matching N parallel cell-units

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Fig. 5.  Schematic diagram of the bias network.

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Fig. 6.  The circuit diagram for stability analysis.

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Fig. 7.  Simulated K factor of the whole circuit

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Fig. 8.  The Nyquist plots of the open-loop transfer functions with the loop break points at (a) T3, (b) T4, (c) T5, (d) T6.

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Fig. 9.  Photograph of the fabricated MMIC, 1.5 $ \times $ 1.7 mm2.

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Fig. 10.  Measured and simulated small-signal S-parameters.

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Fig. 11.  Measured small-signal S-parameters with the bias current lowered to 140 mA.

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Fig. 12.  The PA's output spectrum which shows only the existence of the input signal.

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Fig. 13.  Power measurement block diagram.

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Fig. 14.  Measured output power versus input power compared with the simulated results

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Fig. 15.  The output power curves versus frequency (the input power is also displayed).

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Table 1.   Performance summary and comparison.
[1]
Brown A, Brown K, Chen J, et al. W-band GaN power amplifier MMICs. IEEE MTT-S Int Dig, 2011:1 http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/5972571/?arnumber=5972571
[2]
Ingram D L, Chen Y C, Kraus. A 427 mW, 20% compact W-band InP HEMT MMIC power amplifier. IEEE RFIC Symp, 1999:95 http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/805247/?arnumber=805247
[3]
Maas S, Nelson B, Tait D. Intermodulation distortion in heterojunction bipolar transistors. IEEE Trans Microw Theory Tech, 1992, 40(3):442 doi: 10.1109/22.121719
[4]
Wei Y, Urteaga M, Griffith Z. 75 GHz 80 mW InP DHBT power amplifier. IEEE MTT-S Int Dig, 2003:919 http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/1212519/
[5]
Ellis G A, Kurdoghlian A, Bowen R, et al. W-band InP DHBT MMIC power amplifiers. IEEE MTT-S Int Dig, 2004:231 http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/1335853/
[6]
Paidi V K, Griffith Z, Wei Y, et al. G-band (140-220 GHz) and W-band (75-110 GHz) InP DHBT medium power amplifiers. IEEE Trans Microw Theory Tech, 2005, 53(2):598 doi: 10.1109/TMTT.2004.840662
[7]
O'Sullivan T, Le M, Partyka P, et al. Design of a 70 GHz power amplifier using a digital InP HBT process. IEEE Bipolar/BiCMOS Circuits and Technology Meeting, 2007:214
[8]
Cao Y X, Su Y B, Wu D Y, et al. A 75 GHz 13.92 dBm InP DHBT cascode power amplifier. J Infrared Millim Wave, 2012, 31(4):294 doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1010.2012.00294
[9]
Jin Z, Su Y B, Cheng W, et al. High-speed InGaAs/InP double heterostructure bipolar transistor with high breakdown voltage. Chin Phys Lett, 2008, 25(7):2683 doi: 10.1088/0256-307X/25/7/097
[10]
Jin Z, Su Y B, Cheng W, et al. High current multi-finger InGaAs/InP double heterojunction bipolar transistor with the maximum oscillation frequency 253 GHz. Chin Phys Lett, 2008, 25(8):3075 doi: 10.1088/0256-307X/25/8/091
[11]
Monzon C. A small dual-frequency transformer in two sections. IEEE Trans Microw Theory Tech, 2003, 51(4):1157 doi: 10.1109/TMTT.2003.809675
[12]
Cao Y X, Jin Z, Ge J, et al. A symbolically defined InP double heterojunction bipolar transistor large-signal model. Journal of Semiconductors, 2009, 30(12):37 http://www.jos.ac.cn/bdtxbcn/ch/reader/view_abstract.aspx?file_no=09060503&flag=1
[13]
Bohannan K, Sercu J, Moore J. Demystifying ports $ times $ grounds in ADS momentum. http://www.agilent.com. (20011-08-26)
[14]
O'Sullivan T. Design of millimeter-wave power amplifiers using InP heterojunction bipolar transistors. San Diego:University of California, 2009 http://escholarship.org/uc/item/0z87t0m5?view=search
[15]
Ge J, Cao Y X, Wu D Y, et al. A combined model with electro-thermal coupling and electromagnetic simulation for microwave multi-finger InP-based DHBTs. IEEE Trans Electron Devices, 2012, 59(3):673 doi: 10.1109/TED.2011.2177987
[16]
Wei Y. Wide bandwidth power heterojunction bipolar transistor and amplifiers. Santa Barbara:University of California, 2003
[17]
Wu Y, Li Y, Li S L. A dual-frequency transformer for complex impedances with two unequal sections. IEEE Microw Wireless Compon Lett, 2009, 19(2):77 doi: 10.1109/LMWC.2008.2011315
[18]
Freitag R G. A unified analysis of MMIC power amplifier stability. IEEE MTT-S Int Dig, 1992:297 http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/187971/?reload=true&arnumber=187971&punumber%3D646
[19]
Platzker A, Struble W, Hetzler K T. Instabilities diagnosis and the role of K in microwave circuits. IEEE MTT-S Int Dig, 1993:1185 http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/277082/?arnumber=277082
[20]
Struble W, Platzker A. A rigorous yet simple method for determining stability of linear N-port networks. GaAs IC Symp Dig, 1993:1 http://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/10012635537
[21]
Jackson R W. Rollett proviso in the stability of linear microwave circuits—a tutorial. IEEE Trans Microw Theory Tech, 2006, 40(3):993 http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/1603843/?arnumber=1603843
[22]
De Hek A P. Design, realisation and test of GaAs-based monolithic integrated X-band high-power amplifiers. Eindhoven:Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, 2002

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    Received: 16 November 2012 Revised: 18 January 2013 Online: Published: 01 July 2013

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      Article Navigation >  Journal of Semiconductors  > 2013  >  34(7): 075005
      Hongfei Yao, Yuxiong Cao, Danyu Wu, Xiaoxi Ning, Yongbo Su, Zhi Jin. A 16.9 dBm InP DHBT W-band power amplifier with more than 20 dB gain[J]. Journal of Semiconductors, 2013, 34(7): 075005. doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/34/7/075005 ****H F Yao, Y X Cao, D Y Wu, X X Ning, Y B Su, Z Jin. A 16.9 dBm InP DHBT W-band power amplifier with more than 20 dB gain[J]. J. Semicond., 2013, 34(7): 075005. doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/34/7/075005.
      Citation:
      Hongfei Yao, Yuxiong Cao, Danyu Wu, Xiaoxi Ning, Yongbo Su, Zhi Jin. A 16.9 dBm InP DHBT W-band power amplifier with more than 20 dB gain[J]. Journal of Semiconductors, 2013, 34(7): 075005. doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/34/7/075005 ****
      H F Yao, Y X Cao, D Y Wu, X X Ning, Y B Su, Z Jin. A 16.9 dBm InP DHBT W-band power amplifier with more than 20 dB gain[J]. J. Semicond., 2013, 34(7): 075005. doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/34/7/075005.
      shu

      A 16.9 dBm InP DHBT W-band power amplifier with more than 20 dB gain

      DOI: 10.1088/1674-4926/34/7/075005

      • Institute of Microelectronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China

      Funds:

      Project supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (No. 2010CB327502)

      the National Basic Research Program of China 2010CB327502

      More Information
      • Corresponding author: Jin Zhi, jinzhi@ime.ac.cn
      • Received Date: 2012-11-16
      • Revised Date: 2013-01-18
      • Published Date: 2013-07-01

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