Spatial Power Combining Techniques for Microwave and mm-Wave PAs - Integrated Systems Seminar

Seminar by Dr. Michael DeLisio, CTO, Wavestream CorporationApplications of solid-state power amplifiers (SSPAs) have been limited by the amount of power an individual MMIC amplifier can provide. One way to overcome this limitation is to combine the outputs of several solid-state amplifier chips together. Traditional solid-state amplifier approaches use binary combining of many solid-state MMICs, often resulting in heavy, inefficient, and expensive equipment whenever single-chip capabilities are greatly exceeded. Another approach is to spatially combine the outputs of several chips within a single-mode waveguide. Spatial power combining has very low combining losses, reducing the size, weight, DC power draw, and cost of reaching the target output power. This talk will discuss the two approaches to spatial power combining have recently been used to develop waveguide-based solid-state power amplifiers. The Grid Amplifier, which operates at mm-wave frequencies, uses a single output stage chip patterned with an array or grid of transistor pairs. The Deck Amplifier, which operates at microwave frequencies, stacks up cards containing traditional MMIC amplifier chips for spatial combining. Both achieve high power density and high efficiency without compromising ease of manufacture.

Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Hossein Hashemi