Low voltage, high efficiency GaAs Class E power amplifiers for wireless transmitters

A Class E power amplifier for mobile communications is presented. The advantages of Class E over Class B, Class C, and Class F power amplifiers in a low voltage design are discussed. A fully integrated Class E power amplifier module operating at 835 MHz is designed, fabricated, and tested. The circuit is implemented in a self-aligned-gate, depletion mode 0.8-/spl mu/m GaAs MESFET process. The amplifier delivers 24 dBm of power to the 50-/spl Omega/ load with a power added efficiency greater than 50% at a supply voltage of 2.5 V. The power dissipated in the integrated matching networks is 1.5 times the power dissipated in the transistor.>