A Compact GaN-Based D-Band High-Power Waveguide Amplifier Module

This paper presents a high power amplifier (HPA) module covering the entire D-band <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$(110-170 \text{GHz})$</tex>, with a small-signal gain of over 10 dB and a peak output power of 28 dBm at 165 GHz. This outstanding performance results in a volume output power density of <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$12.3 ~\text{mW} / \text{cm}^{3}$</tex>. The HPA comprises two external power combiners and two modules, each containing two power-combined gallium nitride (GaN) PA monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs). To the best of our knowledge, this four-way power-combined HPA module demonstrates the highest reported output power and volume output power density among GaN-based circuits that span over the entire D-band.