Compact GaN RF-Switches for Power Applications

Transistors with large gate-to-gate distance (gate pitch) are commonly used for High Power Amplifier (HPA) to keep the channel temperature below the critical level. However, the large pitch in switching application shows to prone insertion losses that could be penalizing. In addition, a large gate to drain distance leads to high breakdown voltage but could affect the On-resistance (Ron). This work investigates the best trade-off for transistor gate pitch and gate-to-drain dimensions to optimize the performances while keeping promising power handling capability.