Gallium-nitride (GaN) transistor technology is showing great promise in high-power microwave amplifiers for commercial and military uses. Two new offerings from Toshiba America Electronic Components (TAEC) are particularly notable.
Gallium-nitride (GaN) transistor technology is showing great promise in high-power microwave amplifiers for commercial and military uses. Toshiba America Electronic Components (TAEC), long an innovator in semiconductor devices, recently announced a hybrid integrated circuit (HIC) based on GaN for X-band applications and a GaN monolithic-microwave-integrated-circuit (MMIC) amplifier for Ku-band satellite communications (satcom) applications. The HIC, model GM9398-25, delivers 25 W output power at 1-dB compression from 9.3 to 9.8 GHz with typical linear gain of 25 dB and power-added efficiency (PAE) of 35%. The MMIC, model TGII1314-25L, provides 25 W output power from 13.75 to 14.50 GHz with linear gain of 8 dB. It is a high-electron-mobility-transistor amplifier based on GaN that draws 2.5 A at +24 VDC and achieves 29% PAE. For more on these and other TAEC devices, click here.