X-Band High-Efficiency High-Power GaN Power Amplifier Based on Edge-Triggered Gate Modulation

A novel method called the edge-triggered gate modulation method is proposed in this letter to decrease the voltage overshoot while maintaining high efficiency for high-power amplifiers (HPAs). In this method, the HPA is biased in high-efficiency mode, i.e., Class B/C, during the pulse-on period and switched to Class A on the rising/falling edge of the pulse. For verification, a pulsed HPA prototype operating in the X-band with an output power of similar to 1 kW is fabricated. Based on the proposed method, a relative efficiency improvement of more than 23.2% compared with conventional Class A has been achieved with the voltage overshoot thoroughly suppressed under a 1 parts per thousand duty cycle.