High Efficiency Class-F Power Amplifier Design

Due to the high increase in and demand for a wide assortment of applications that require low-cost, high-efficiency, and compact systems, RF power amplifiers are considered the most critical design blocks and power consuming components in wireless communication, TV transmission, radar, and RF heating. Therefore, much research has been carried out in order to improve the performance of power amplifiers. Classes-A, B, C, D, E and F are the main techniques for realizing power amplifiers.

An implementation of high efficiency class-F power amplifier with Gallium Nitride (GaN) High Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMT) was realized in this paper. The simulation and optimization of the class-F power amplifier circuit model was undertaken using Agilent’s Advanced Design system (ADS). The circuit was designed using lumped elements.

• Abdalla Mohamed Eblabla

• Power Amplifier (PA)
• Gallium Nitride (GaN)
• Agilent’s Advanced Design system (ADS) and lumped elements.

[1] Bowick. C., J. Blyler, and C. Ajluni, RF circuit Design, 2rd edition. (Burlington, MA and Oxford, UK: Newnes, 2008), ch. 1.
[2] Pozar, D.M., Microwave Engineering, 3rd edition. (New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, 2005), ch. 1.
[3] Aroshvili, Giorgi, "GaN HEMT and MMIC Design and Evaluation.” Master’s thesis, University of GÄLE, 2008.
[4] Ramadan, A., A. Martin, D. Sardin, T. Reveyrand, J-M. Nebus, P. Bouysse, L. Lapierre, J.F. Villemazet and S. Forestier, Study and Design of High Efficiency Switch Mode GaN Power Amplifiers at L-band Frequency, University of Limoges, France, available at http://www.reveyrand.fr/publications/65.pdf (accessed 22 November 2011).
[5] Modelithics, Datasheet for HMT-EUD-EGN030MK, Rev. 110803 (2011).
[6] Schhmelzer, David and Stephen I. Long, A GaN HEMT Class F Amplifier at 2 GHz With > 80% PAE, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits 42 no. 10 (2007).