W-Band Solid State Power Amplifier for Remote Sensing Radars

High power, compact, reliable and affordable power amplifiers operating in the W-band (94 GHz region) are critical to realizing transmitters for many NASA missions and other significant applications for remote sensing and environmental measurements. QuinStar Technology proposes novel approach for a family of solid state power amplifiers (SSPA) that will exceed the performance and operational requirements for measurement instruments and monitoring equipment of the future. Proposed approach is based on optimal combination of unique techniques for highly efficient and yet robust power combining, circuit integration and innovative packaging methods. This also leads to affordable products suitable for space, airborne as well as terrestrial applications. Key features of the proposed implementation are: scalability of power output, compact, lightweight, flexible architecture and high reliability with very significant potential for performance improvement and price reduction as MMIC device technology matures further. Initial objective of proposed effort is to achieve greater than 50 Watts of power output at 94 GHz at greater than 20% duty cycle and with 40 dB or more gain. Phase I work will focus on innovative robust designs for power combining, packaging and select device/material s. Phase I effort will lead to a producible and scalable design baseline that will be used in Phase II for manufacturing deployable products.