Interest in broadband frequency coverage has been apparent at EDI CON 2016 in Boston, MA this week. Specifiers on the show floor have detailed requirements for components with bandwidths exceeding the traditional DC to 18 GHz of electronic-warfare (EW) systems. As if in response to these requests for increasingly broadband components, MACOM Technology Solutions unveiled a pair of distributed power amplifiers with bandwidths of DC to 22 GHz, models MAAP-011247 and MAAP-011248. In addition to EW systems, these amplifiers are candidates for test equipment, radar systems, and electronic-countermeasures (ECM) systems.
Model MAAP-011247 delivers +33 dBm (2 W) saturated output power with +31 dBm output power at 1-dB compression. The amplifier achieves 12-dB linear gain in both chip form and in a 5 × 5 mm QFN package. Model MAAP-011248 is a +30-dBm (1-W) amplifier with 12.5-dB linear gain and +27 dBm output power at 1-dB compression. It can be operated with drain voltages from +9 to +12 V dc for optimum performance. This amplifier is also available in chip or packaged formats, with no sacrifice in electrical performance due to the 5 × 5 mm QFN package. In fact, the power-added efficiency for both amplifiers is better than 41%.
According to Graham Board, senior director of Multi-Market Products at MACOM, more of these broadband amplifiers are on the way: “This complete family of distributed amplifiers will offer customers a full range of power levels to solve their most challenging wideband test & measurement and mission-critical aerospace and defense system requirements.” Those at EDI CON 2016 seeking more information about these and other GaAs and GaN monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) amplifiers are invited to browse the samples on display at booth 309.
