Highly efficient wideband parallel‐circuit class‐E/F 3 power amplifier's design methodology

This article proposes a simple method of designing a highly efficient wideband parallel‐circuit (PC) class‐E/F 3 power amplifiers (PAs). A combination of the double‐reactance compensation technique and fundamental as well as third‐harmonic series‐tuned resonators is used for the design of the PC class‐E/F 3 PA output matching network. The step‐by‐step design flow and corresponding equations to calculate each component's value are also presented. Based on this method, the simulated optimal impedances of the reactance compensation network present almost a constant over the desired band, which satisfies the requirement of the wideband performance. Measured results reveal that using a GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT), the fabricated PA demonstrates the measured drain efficiencies of 60.1–80.5%, as well as output powers of 36.0–40.9 dBm from 350 to 730 MHz (fractional bandwidth = 70.4%).