1-40GHz MMIC Distributed Power Amplifier in Gallium Nitride Technology with P ldB > 31dBm

This paper presents the design of a uniform distributed MMIC power amplifier implemented in low voltage (12V Vds) 100nm GaN/Si technology achieving high output power $pmb{(u003e 31text{dBm P}1 text{dB})}$, good impedance match (F $pmb{text{S}_{11} u003e -10{text{d}}text{B}},pmb{text{S}_{22} u003e -7text{dB})}$ and high gain (20dB) over a very wide bandwidth (1 GHz-40GHz). New compounds like Gallium Nitride allow for the design of amplifiers with outstanding high power, high frequency performance at the expense of several drawbacks that are not so accentuated in other III- V technologies. Focus is set on pointing out these drawbacks and in drawing an appropriate layout for EM simulations, as the importance of correctly capturing effects like inter-stage coupling increases with frequency.