IGF::OT::IGF QUINSTAR TECHNOLOGY PROPOSES TO DEVELOP A 4-WATT SOLID-STATE POWER AMPLIFIER (SSPA) OPERATING…

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IGF::OT::IGF QUINSTAR TECHNOLOGY PROPOSES TO DEVELOP A 4-WATT SOLID-STATE POWER AMPLIFIER (SSPA) OPERATING AT F-BAND (106-114 GHZ) WITH A POWER-ADDED EFFICIENCY (PAE) OF GREATER THAN 30%. THIS WILL BE ACHIEVED BY EMPLOYING TWO MAJOR INNOVATIONS. FIRST, WE ARE EMPLOYING STATE-OF-THE-ART WIDE BANDGAP GAN (GALLIUM NITRIDE) DEVICES. HIGH POWER DENSITY GAN DEVICES HAVE RECENTLY BEEN DEMONSTRATED AT MILLIMETER-WAVE FREQUENCIES WITH POWER DENSITIES OF 5 TO 8 TIMES HIGHER THAN GAAS AND DRAIN EFFICIENCIES OF 50%. USING THESE DEVICES IN A QUASI-SWITCHING MODE, WE ARE PROPOSING TO DEVELOP A NEW HIGHEFFICIENCY MMIC OPERATING AT F-BAND WITH AN OUTPUT POWER OF ONE WATT AND AN EFFICIENCY OF GREATER THAN 33%. SECONDLY, WE ARE PROPOSING TO UTILIZE A NEW LOW LOSS, HTEE COMBINING APPROACH TO COMBINE 4 OF THESE HIGH-EFFICIENCY CHIPS TO ACHIEVE 4 WATTS. THE NET RESULT IS A UNIQUE COMBINATION OF HIGH PERFORMANCE DEVICES AND INNOVATIVE POWER COMBINING. WE ANTICIPATE THAT THIS WORK WILL RESULT IN AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE INCREASE IN THE STATE-OF-THE-ART OF SSPA OUTPUT POWER AND EFFICIENCY AT F-BAND. AS A RESULT, WE BELIEVE THIS WORK COULD BE VERY IMPORTANT FOR NASA'S ASTROPHYSICS AND EARTH SCIENCE MISSIONS AND FOR W-BAND RADAR AND COMMUNICATIONS APPLICATIONS.