Hybrid integration of 4‐W and 8‐W S‐band GaN power amplifiers on a selectively anodized aluminum substrate

Hybrid integration of 4-W and 8-W GaN power amplifiers operating in 2–3 GHz is attempted on a selectively anodized aluminum substrate. Discrete GaN high electron mobility transistors are inserted in selectively etched pockets of the aluminum metal substrate and all passive matching circuits are fabricated on the anodized aluminum oxide layer of the aluminum substrate. The 4-W power amplifier shows a flat gain of 20–23 dB in 0.7–4.5 GHz, a maximum output power of 37.5 dBm at 2.5 GHz, and output power variation of ±0.35 dB in 2–3 GHz. The 8-W power amplifier also shows a maximum output power of 39.6 dBm at 2.5 GHz and output power variation of ±0.5 dB in 2–3 GHz. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 54:1261–1263, 2012