Effects of circuit variations on the class E tuned power amplifier

The operation of the class E tuned power amplifier may be described by a set of equations based on Fourier component analysis. Previous publications have derived an optimum operating mode in which the collector efficiency of an idealized circuit is 100 percent. Since real amplifiers are made from nonideal components and are subject to nonideal loads, it is necessary to determine the effects of deviations from the ideal. The effects of variations in component values and duty cycle are determined from the basic equations. Numerical results of variations in load reactance, shunt capacitance, load resistance, frequency, and duty cycle are presented. The amplifier was found to be quite tolerant of reasonable circuit variations. With proper output filtering, the amplifier can be operated over nearly an octave bandwidth with less than a 5 percent reduction in efficiency.