This paper discusses the design steps and experimental characterization of a monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) power amplifier developed for the next generation of K-band 17.3–20.2 GHz very high throughput satellites. The technology used is a commercially available 100-nm gate length gallium nitride on silicon process. The chip was developed taking into account the demanding constraints of the spacecraft and, in particular, carefully considering the thermal constraints of such technology, in order to keep the junction temperature in all devices below 160°C in the worst-case condition (i.e., maximum environmental temperature of 85°C). The realized MMIC, based on a three-stage architecture, was first characterized on-wafer in pulsed regime and, subsequently, mounted in a test-jig and characterized under continuous wave operating conditions. In 17.3–20.2 GHz operating bandwidth, the built amplifier provides an output power >40 dBm with a power added efficiency close to 30% (peak >40%) and 22 dB of power gain.

中文翻译：

---

用于 Kb 和卫星通信的高效 10W MMIC PA

本文讨论了为下一代 K 波段 17.3-20.2 GHz 超高吞吐量卫星开发的单片微波集成电路 (MMIC) 功率放大器的设计步骤和实验特性。所使用的技术是一种市售的 100 纳米栅极长度的硅基氮化镓工艺。该芯片的开发考虑了航天器的苛刻限制，特别是仔细考虑了此类技术的热限制，以便在最坏情况下（即，最高环境温度为 85°C）。实现的 MMIC 基于三级架构，首先以脉冲方式在晶圆上进行表征，随后，安装在测试夹具中，并在连续波操作条件下进行表征。在 17.3–20.2 GHz 工作带宽内，内置放大器提供 >40 dBm 的输出功率，功率附加效率接近 30%（峰值 >40%）和 22 dB 的功率增益。