Low-Voltage Continuous Class-F Wideband Power Amplifier

Abstract

A high-efficiency continuous Class-F broadband power amplifier (PA) using a pHEMT with a low supply voltage of 3 V is proposed. The proposed PA consists of a harmonic control network, which is used to reduce the effect of fundamental frequency reflections on the dc power supply, improve efficiency, and shape the voltage and current waveforms, and a low-pass filter (LPF) with a wide stopband, which is used to eliminate higher order harmonics. To validate the proposed structure, a continuous Class-F broadband PA is simulated, fabricated, and measured. The measured results show that the PA has a gain of 10.7 dB and a maximum drain efficiency of 64% in the frequency range of 1.1–1.7 GHz. The measured results demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed design method for continuous Class-F broadband PA.