https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7777-9858
![Sample our Engineering & Technology journals, sign in here to start your access, latest two full volumes FREE to you for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5933/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Engineering-Tech.jpg"})
ABSTRACT
This paper describes the challenges in the design of board-level Ku-band power amplifier (PA) using the hybrid-MIC technology. The selection of laminates, connectors, cables and RF components, such as DC feed and DC block, is examined from the perspective of Ku-band PA designers. Other key challenges, such as die mounting and wire bonding, are also discussed. Die mounting and wire bonding are critical phenomena and they have a great impact on the working of PA at high frequencies. After several trials, successful die mounting has been achieved and a methodology for reliable die mounting and wire bonding has been proposed. With the help of investigation done for the design of PA at the high operating frequency, a first board-level power amplifier at 17 GHz has been designed using a 250 nm bare die device with a 400 MHz frequency band.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge Prof. S. Manhas for providing the lab facility during Die mounting and wire bonding and Wolfspeed for providing the ADS model of the device.
Additional information
Funding
Notes on contributors
Hemant Kumar Singhal
Hemant Kumar Singhal is pursuing PhD from Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee. He received his Master of Technology in radio frequency design and technology from IIT, Delhi in 2014. He has done BTech in electronics and communication engineering from Government College of Engineering Ajmer, Rajasthan Technical University, Kota. He is currently assistant professor in the Department of Electronics and Communication at National Institute of Technology Uttarakhand, India. Prior to this, he was a lecturer in Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies (RGUKT) Basar Telangana during 2014–2015. His current research interests are in the areas of RF power amplifier, transceiver design, RF active and passive circuits design.
Karun Rawat
Karun Rawat (S’08, SM’13) received his PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Calgary, Canada in 2012, where he worked as a student research assistant and later post-doctoral research fellow under the research grant of iCORE and CRC chair, Alberta, Canada. He is currently an associate professor in the Department of Electronics and Communication at Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, India. Prior to this, he was an assistant professor in Centre for Applied Research in Electronics, IIT Delhi during 2013–2014 and scientist in the Space Applications Center, Indian Space Research Organization Ahmedabad, during 2003–2007. His current research interests are in the areas of RF power amplifier and transceiver design, nonlinear device modeling, RF active and passive circuits design, RFCMOS and GaN MMIC designs. His research has resulted in more than 67 publications in journals and conferences and one published book. He has been a reviewer of several IEEE Transactions. He has received research production award for three consecutive years from 2009 to 2011 during his PhD. He also received best design prize in third Annual Smart Radio Challenge in 2010. He is also a member of the editorial board of Wiley journal in RF and Microwave Computer Aided Engineering (RFMiCAE). He has been associated with an advisory committee of several RF industries, national scientific labs and universities for brainstorming and research initiatives. He has also been part of the technical program committee of several IEEE conferences, such as IEEE IMaRC, IEEE APMC and IEEE INDICON. E-mail: [email protected]