Submillimeter-wave InP HBT power amplifier using impedance-transforming two-way balun

초록

In this letter, a submillimeter-wave power amplifier (PA) is presented using a 250 nm InP HBT technology. To obtain high output power, a two-way power combiner with differential outputs is proposed using multimetal layers. This two-way balun has an embedded impedance-transformation function, which enables to design broadband and low-loss impedance matching networks of a PA. The back-to-back connected balun shows a measured insertion loss of 1.2 dB at 296 GHz, including the losses of RF pads. The balanced PA using cascode power cells and the baluns exhibits a measured small-signal gain of 9.0 dB with broad bandwidth, and the measured output power of 10.0 dBm with a gain of 6.0 dB and drain efficiency of 5.4% at 296 GHz. The chip size is as small as 0.49 mm x 0.41 mm including DC and RF pads. (c) 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 57:1831-1834, 2015

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