X-band MMIC GaN power amplifier for SAR systems

This contribution describes the design, realization, and test of a compact X-band GaN MMIC high power amplifier (HPA) for synthetic aperture radar. The HPA represents the first step toward the realization of a fully integrated GaN transmitter/receiver (Tx/Rx) for X-band applications. The circuit is designed in a two stage configuration and it is fully matched to 50 Ω input and output impedance. The chip area is less than 10 mm. Experimental results show an output power close to 42 dBm with a gain of 16 dB (at 3 dB of compression) and a ripple lower than 0.5 dB from 8.6 to 10.6 GHz frequency range.