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Title: Design and Integration of Hybrid and Monolithic Microwave Power Amplifiers for Wideband Applications using Gallium Nitride Technology
Committee:
Dr. Papapolymerou, Advisor
Dr. Cressler, Chair
Dr. Wang
Dr. Gebara
Abstract: The objective of the proposed research is to compare, contrast, and advance the predominant methods of realizing broadband microwave power amplifiers (PAs) up to 40 GHz with high efficiency using gallium nitride (GaN) technology. The studied architectures are based on the reactive/resistive matching approach and the traveling wave technique in both hybrid and monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs). With a focus on improving the bandwidth and efficiency of these architectures, the presented hybrid PA designs achieve cutting edge performance from commercially available GaN power transistors. Further details of design development and integration are discussed, featuring discrete component descriptions, substrate material selections, additional matching techniques, and analyses of both wirebonds and flip-chip bonds that are used for PA interconnections. To complement these novel hybrid PA design and integration developments, the results of device characterization and wideband modeling are presented for a new 0.15 µm GaN MMIC process in support of a broadband PA design with reactive/resistive matching. Finally, an ultra-wideband MMIC non-uniform distributed PA design is fabricated on a pre-release version of a new 0.14 µm GaN MMIC process, and preliminary small-signal measurements from 2-40 GHz show promising results.
