Ka-band Communications Solid State Power Amplifier Developed

Transmitters are important parts in communication systems. The RF power output capability is a key for the transmitter. As a single solid-state device's output power is low, power combining technology is usually used to achieve higher power output. In this thesis, Ka band solid state power-combining amplifier (SSPA) is studied and a Ka band continuous-wave SSPA with 20W of 1dB compression output power is developed with applying waveguide-based spatial power-combining approach, with considering the current technology and engineering requirements.In this thesis, the power combining circuits, thermal dissipation, test in the SSPA design and implementation are discussed and conducted.This SSPA is achieved based on building-block technique to obtain higher power output.Heat dissipation is a design difficulty for SSPA. In this thesis, the measurement of heat dissipation for the SSPA is analyzed and designed. The number and diameter of heat pipes which is used to transmit the heat from MMIC (Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuits) to cooler are obtained by thermal analysis software. The heat dissipation measurement shows good performance in experiment.Key parameters of the SSPA, such as output power, noise figure, spurious, third-order intermodulation (IM3) and amplitude-phase transform, are measured. In addition, single MMIC's power output capability is explored from the static operating point and micro-assembly.The work conducted in the thesis has engineering reference value for design of millimeter wave communication transmitter in the future.