Performance and Simulation of a High Voltage 2W X-Band Monolithic Amplifier

An X-Band power MMIC chip designed for high voltage operation in phased array applications is described. A 10GHz pulsed power output of 2.2W with 10dB associated gain was achieved at an optimum drain bias of 12.5V in the first design iteration. CW performance over 8.0-10.5 GHz was accurately simulated using large signal FET models incorporated into a harmonic balance analysis. The chip is based on high breakdown double-recessed FET technology and is suitable for high yield volume production.