A 16-element reflection grid amplifier

We present a 16-element hybrid grid amplifier. This is the first successful grid amplifier to use a reflection architecture, which should provide thermal performance superior to transmission grids. The grid uses custom-made differential-pair chips with TRW InP heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) as the active devices. We measure a peak gain of 15 dB at 10.2 GHz. Gain, tuning, and angular measurements are consistent with theoretical predictions.