The Source Second-Harmonic-Manipulated Wideband Power Amplifier for a Series of Inverse Continuous Modes

In this letter, an in-depth analysis of a series of inverse continuous mode (SICM) power amplifiers (PAs) considering nonlinear input and output active device characteristics is presented. Analysis shows that, compared to conventional SICMs, a more flexible source second-harmonic manipulation space is revealed to promote and maintain the performance of PAs under wideband operation. Moreover, a new load design space is explored to combine the source second-harmonic manipulation space to achieve bandwidth expansion of PAs. Subsequently, a PA operating at 0.9-3.5 GHz was designed, fabricated, and tested utilizing the CGH40010F model released by Wolfspeed to confirm the proposed design theory. Experimental results show that a drain efficiency of 61%−72% can be achieved with a saturated output power of <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$39.5-42$ </tex-math> dBm in the desired design frequency band.