Design of an Ultra-Wideband High-Efficiency Power Amplifier Based on a Novel Impedance Matching Structure With Three Paths

In this brief, a design method for a high-efficiency power amplifier (PA) with a three-octave operation bandwidth is proposed. A unique impedance matching structure with three paths (TPs) and a series of inverse continuous modes (SICMs) are combined to achieve outstanding performance in terms of operating bandwidth as well as efficiency. Especially, a buffer stage of impedance matching is generated by the proposed TPs structure, which further promotes the expansion of target bandwidth. To verify the proposed methodology, an ultra-wideband PA component is implemented with a 10-W GaN HEMT device. The measurement results demonstrate a fractional bandwidth of 155.6% from 0.5 to 4.0 GHz, with saturated output power of 39.5-42.2 dBm, drain efficiency (DE) of 57-79%, and a large signal gain of 9.5-12.2 dB. These results show that the PA realized by the proposed TPs impedance matching design is suitable for small-base station and multiband applications.