Design of wideband continuous class-F power amplifier using low pass matching technique and harmonic tuning network

• Main Authors: Sadeque, Md. Golam, Yusoff, Zubaida, Hashim, Shaiful Jahari, Mohd Marzuki, Azah Syafiah, Lees, Jonathan, Fitzpatrick, Dominic
• Format: Article
• Published: IEEE 2022
• Online Access: http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/100909/; https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9869858

Many countries have allocated new frequency bands for fifth generation (5G) communication systems. In this paper, a wideband continuous class-F (CCF) radio frequency power amplifier (RFPA) is presented for the new 5G frequency band, from 3.3 GHz to 4.3 GHz using a 10 W Cree CGH40100F device. A unique wideband RFPA design approach for the output matching network (OMN) is also presented by applying a harmonic tuning network (HTN) for the harmonics and a low pass matching technique (LPMT) for the fundamental frequency. The RFPA is fabricated, and promising measurement results show a drain efficiency of 55.9% to 65.3% is achieved at an output power of 40 dBm (± 0.3 dBm) over a frequency range of 3.3 GHz to 4.3 GHz. A two-tone signal with a 10 MHz spacing was also applied to investigate the linearity of the RFPA.