Fully monolithic 4 watt high efficiency Ka-band power amplifier

Design and performance of a power amplifier that has established a new benchmark for Ka-band power is reported. The amplifier achieved >4 Watts at 25 to 31% PAE with 14 dB of power gain from 29 to 31 GHz. This output power, bandwidth, and efficiency is superior to the best previously reported results. The amplifier is implemented in an improved fully selective 0.15 um power PHEMT process.