Four-way Power Combiner with Spring Contact Probes for High Power SSPA Modules

We propose a low-loss, high-heat dissipative four-way power combiner that can be applied to multiple monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMIC) with flip-chip bonding for high power solid-state power amplifier modules. This structure mainly consists of a two-way power combiner comprising an air-filled substrate integrated waveguide (ASIW) and the Gysel power combiner formed on glass substrate to reduce loss. In addition, we employ spring contact probes to connect the ASIW to glass substrate. We achieve close contact between the MMIC and heat sink to reduce thermal resistance due to the flexibility of spring contact probes. We design and fabricate the proposed structure without MMIC to confirm the high performance of the power combiner. The simulation and measurement results of the prototype are similar, and the combiner loss is 0.5-1.0 dB.