X-Band GaN Power Amplifier MMIC Design and Radiation Evaluations for Space Applications

This paper reports on the development of X-band GaN power amplifier (PA) monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) that is suitable for active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar and satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) applications. The PA MMIC designed using GH15-10 GaN technology exhibits gain of 27 dB, output power of 42.5 dBm, and PAE of 55 % in the 8.5~11 GHz frequency range with a compact size of 3.78 mm × 1.3 mm. Also, radiation evaluations with TID and SEE tests of the developed MMIC are discussed.