GaN Breaks Barriers

RF Power Amplifiers Go Wide and High

The increasing demand for higher data rates in telecommunications and higher resolution in industrial systems is pushing the frequency of operation higher for the electronics that support them. Many of these systems operate over a wide frequency spectrum, and further increased bandwidth requirements are a common request for new designs. Across many of these systems there is a push to use one signal chain for all frequency bands.

Advancements in semiconductor technology have led to breakthroughs in capability for high-power and wideband amplifiers. An area that was once dominated by traveling wave tubes has begun to cede ground to semiconductor devices, thanks to the gallium nitride (GaN) revolution that is sweeping the industry and enabling MMICs that generate >1 W of power over many decades of bandwidth. As shorter-gate-length gallium arsenide (GaAs) and GaN transistors become available - coupled with improved circuit design techniques - new devices are becoming available that can perform comfortably to millimeter-wave frequencies, opening new applications that were hard to contemplate a decade ago.