A Ku-Band GaN MMIC Push-Pull Power Amplifier with Coupled-Line Balun and Capacitive Neutralization for 6G Applications

This paper demonstrates a 11.0 - 17.5 GHz GaN on SiC MMIC push-pull power amplifier (PA) for emerging 6G FR3 centimeter-wave (cmWave) applications, featuring an innovative input balun for impedance matching, an output balun to counteract transistor parasitics for enhanced bandwidth and compactness, and cross-coupled neutralization networks with interdigitated and metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitors to boost stability and gain. To validate the proposed design, a prototype GaN MMIC push-pull PA was fabricated. Experimental results exhibit a peak power added efficiency (PAE)of 18%- 34% with an output power of 34.0 - 36.5 dBm within the design frequencies.