IGF::OT::IGF QUINSTAR TECHNOLOGY PROPOSES TO DEVELOP A HIGH-EFFICIENCY, 4-W SSPA OPERATING AT F-BAND FREQUE…

Public award description

IGF::OT::IGF QUINSTAR TECHNOLOGY PROPOSES TO DEVELOP A HIGH-EFFICIENCY, 4-W SSPA OPERATING AT F-BAND FREQUENCIES (106-114 GHZ). THIS WILL BE ACHIEVED BY EMPLOYING TWO MAJOR INNOVATIONS. FIRSTLY, WE ARE EMPLOYING STATE-OF-THE-ART WIDE BANDGAP GAN (GALLIUM NITRIDE) DEVICES. AT MILLIMETER-WAVE FREQUENCIES, THESE GAN DEVICES HAVE DEMONSTRATED POWER DENSITIES OF 5 TO 8 TIMES HIGHER THAN GAAS OR INP DEVICES. FURTHER, WE ARE PROPOSING TO OPERATE THESE DEVICES IN A QUASI-SWITCHING MODE, WHICH HAS DEMONSTRATED, IN PHASE I SIMULATIONS, DRAIN EFFICIENCIES APPROACHING 70%. THE RESULTING MMIC, OPERATING OVER THE 106 TO 114 GHZ BAND, WILL PRODUCE AN OUTPUT POWER OF ONE WATT AND AN EFFICIENCY OF GREATER THAN 33%. SECONDLY, WE ARE PROPOSING TO UTILIZE A NEW LOW LOSS, H-TEE 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. WE ANTICIPATE THAT THIS WORK WILL BE VERY IMPORTANT FOR NASA'S EARTH SCIENCE MISSIONS AND FOR DOD W-BAND RADAR AND COMMUNICATIONS APPLICATIONS.