A W-band monolithic medium power amplifier

This paper summarizes the design and measured performance of a MMIC power amplifier for W-band. The chip was fabricated on a 50 µm GaAs substrate using 0.1 µm AlGaAs/InGaAs/GaAs pseudomorphic-HEMT technology. Measurements show that it has small-signal gain of 19±1 dB from 72 to 95 GHz. During scalar measurements with moderate heat-sinking, the chip delivered more than 100 mW between 75 and 93 GHz, with a corresponding large signal gain of 11 dB. Such an amplifier is widely useful in millimeter-wave applications requiring moderately high power over broad frequency ranges, including emerging wireless communication systems in W-band