Power Amplifier Module With 734-mW Continuous Wave Output Power

Research findings were reported from an investigation of new gallium nitride (GaN) monolithic millimeter-wave integrated circuit (MMIC) power amplifiers (PAs) targeting the highest output power and the highest efficiency for class-A operation in W-band (75–110 GHz). W-band PAs are a major component of many frequency multiplied submillimeter-wave LO signal sources. For spectrometer arrays, substantial W-band power is required due to the passive lossy frequency multipliers used to generate higher frequency signals in nonlinear Schottky diode-based LO sources. By advancing PA technology, the LO system performance can be increased with possible cost reductions compared to current GaAs PAs.