Effect of Shunt Capacitances on Performance of Current-Mode Class-DE Power Amplifier at Any Active Time

In this paper, a current-mode Class-DE (CMCDE) power amplifier is presented. The CMCDE with linear shunt capacitance under zero-current switching (ZCS) and zero current-derivative switching (ZCDS) conditions at any active time is analyzed, simulated, and fabricated. An analytical theory along with the design simulation and verification by experimental results at active time τ
_d
= π/2 are given. It was shown that the peak switch voltage can be adjusted with active time τ
_d
. The proposed amplifier offers several desirable features, such as simple structure and possibility to include the parasitic inductance and shunt capacitance of the MOSFET into a load network, so that ZCS condition is maintained. The results show that the switch voltage and current obtained in CMCDE amplifier are inversed in comparison to the voltage-mode Class-DE (VMCDE) amplifier by using a simple output matching network and series inductance. Also, we could control the harmonics in one resonator in comparison to multiple resonators used in some high-efficiency power amplifiers. The measured maximum drain efficiency of 88% and power gain of 22 dB at 42-dBm output power was obtained at 4 MHz for CMCDE amplifier at active time τ
_d
= π/2.