Small Size, High Power Density, Solid State Amplifiers for Space Application

In this article the new frontier in Spatial Power Amplifiers is shown, with particular attention to the their Space Applications. These amplifiers have in fact the characteristic of High RF Power, Solid State Technology and High Power Density due to the small sizes that can be reached. We will show the performances of three amplifiers employing the spatial combining technique, two prototypes in the X-Band and one in the Ka-Band, with a brief description of the design approach. These amplifiers belong to the Single Waveguide group of the SPC family, thus a WR90 and a WR28 waveguides are employed. Very good performances are obtained from these prototypes, with a very high power density due their small sizes.