Space-Compliant Design of a Millimeter-Wave GaN-on-Si Stacked Power Amplifier Cell through Electro-Magnetic and Thermal Simulations
The stacked power amplifier is a widely adopted solution in CMOS technology to overcome breakdown limits. Its application to compound semiconductor technology is instead rather limited especially at very high frequency, where device parasitic reactances make the design extremely challenging, and in...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-07-01
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| Series: | Electronics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/10/15/1784 |
| _version_ | 1797525749342666752 |
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| author | Chiara Ramella Marco Pirola Corrado Florian Paolo Colantonio |
| author_facet | Chiara Ramella Marco Pirola Corrado Florian Paolo Colantonio |
| author_sort | Chiara Ramella |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The stacked power amplifier is a widely adopted solution in CMOS technology to overcome breakdown limits. Its application to compound semiconductor technology is instead rather limited especially at very high frequency, where device parasitic reactances make the design extremely challenging, and in gallium nitride technology, which already offers high breakdown voltages. Indeed, the stacked topology can also be advantageous in such scenarios as it can enhance gain and chip compactness. Moreover, the higher supply voltages and lower supply currents beneficially impact on reliability, thus making the stacked configuration an attractive solution for space applications. This paper details the design of two stacked cells, differing in their inter-stage matching strategy, conceived for space applications at Ka-band in 100 nm GaN-on-Si technology. In particular, the design challenges related to the thermal constraints posed by space reliability and to the electro-magnetic cross-talk issues that may arise at millimeter-wave frequencies are discussed. The best cell achieves at saturation, in simulation, 3 W of output power at 36 GHz with associated gain and efficiency in excess of 7 dB and 35%, respectively. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T09:17:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e9bab8a11a17463cbb62abda6835af3e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-9292 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T09:17:24Z |
| publishDate | 2021-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Electronics |
| spelling | doaj.art-e9bab8a11a17463cbb62abda6835af3e2023-11-22T05:30:51ZengMDPI AGElectronics2079-92922021-07-011015178410.3390/electronics10151784Space-Compliant Design of a Millimeter-Wave GaN-on-Si Stacked Power Amplifier Cell through Electro-Magnetic and Thermal SimulationsChiara Ramella0Marco Pirola1Corrado Florian2Paolo Colantonio3Department Electronics and Telecommunications, Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Torino, ItalyDepartment Electronics and Telecommunications, Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Torino, ItalyMicrowave Engineering Center for Space Applications (MECSA), 00133 Roma, ItalyMicrowave Engineering Center for Space Applications (MECSA), 00133 Roma, ItalyThe stacked power amplifier is a widely adopted solution in CMOS technology to overcome breakdown limits. Its application to compound semiconductor technology is instead rather limited especially at very high frequency, where device parasitic reactances make the design extremely challenging, and in gallium nitride technology, which already offers high breakdown voltages. Indeed, the stacked topology can also be advantageous in such scenarios as it can enhance gain and chip compactness. Moreover, the higher supply voltages and lower supply currents beneficially impact on reliability, thus making the stacked configuration an attractive solution for space applications. This paper details the design of two stacked cells, differing in their inter-stage matching strategy, conceived for space applications at Ka-band in 100 nm GaN-on-Si technology. In particular, the design challenges related to the thermal constraints posed by space reliability and to the electro-magnetic cross-talk issues that may arise at millimeter-wave frequencies are discussed. The best cell achieves at saturation, in simulation, 3 W of output power at 36 GHz with associated gain and efficiency in excess of 7 dB and 35%, respectively.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/10/15/1784stacked PAEM designGaN MMICmm-wave PA |
| spellingShingle | Chiara Ramella Marco Pirola Corrado Florian Paolo Colantonio Space-Compliant Design of a Millimeter-Wave GaN-on-Si Stacked Power Amplifier Cell through Electro-Magnetic and Thermal Simulations Electronics stacked PA EM design GaN MMIC mm-wave PA |
| title | Space-Compliant Design of a Millimeter-Wave GaN-on-Si Stacked Power Amplifier Cell through Electro-Magnetic and Thermal Simulations |
| title_full | Space-Compliant Design of a Millimeter-Wave GaN-on-Si Stacked Power Amplifier Cell through Electro-Magnetic and Thermal Simulations |
| title_fullStr | Space-Compliant Design of a Millimeter-Wave GaN-on-Si Stacked Power Amplifier Cell through Electro-Magnetic and Thermal Simulations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Space-Compliant Design of a Millimeter-Wave GaN-on-Si Stacked Power Amplifier Cell through Electro-Magnetic and Thermal Simulations |
| title_short | Space-Compliant Design of a Millimeter-Wave GaN-on-Si Stacked Power Amplifier Cell through Electro-Magnetic and Thermal Simulations |
| title_sort | space compliant design of a millimeter wave gan on si stacked power amplifier cell through electro magnetic and thermal simulations |
| topic | stacked PA EM design GaN MMIC mm-wave PA |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/10/15/1784 |
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