Power Measurement Setup for On-Wafer Large Signal Characterization Up to Q-Band

We report on the development of a nonlinear vector network analyzer power measurement setup for on-wafer large signal device characterization up to the Q-band. The setup can be used with various types of load pull (active, passive or hybrid) and enables measurements both in continuous wave and pulsed modes (1-μs pulsewidth and a duty cycle of 1%). Subsequently, state-of-the-art power results at 40 GHz have been achieved on sub-10 nm barrier AlN/GaN high electron mobility transistors. Pulsed load-pull measurements allowed reaching an output power density at such high frequency above 6 W/mm together with high efficiency up to a drain voltage of 30 V while avoiding self-heating effects and thus gate leakage current degradation.