A Compact 500–mW Ku-band Power Amplifier MMIC in 3×3–mm2 Quad Flat (QFN) Packages

This paper presents the performance of a 0.5-Watt Ku-band power amplifier MMIC in low cost surface mount quad flat non-leaded packages (QFN). Depending on the technology used (molded or air-cavity QFN packages), the packaged 2-stage amplifier exhibits high-gain ranging from 18- to 20 dB at Ku-band, with more than 27-dBm (500-mW) CW output power, and up to 29-dBm in saturation (800 mW) at 13.75-14.5 GHz. With a die area of only 1.5 mm
²
and QFN packages being 3 mm × 3 mm, these results represents the highest output power levels reported to date for amplifier MMICs packaged in the smallest outline