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US 2006/0139739 A1Published application
Quasi-optical array amplifier
AssigneeRockwell Scientific Licensing, LLC
InventorsJ. Higgins, Avijit Bhunia, Karim Boutros
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention is an array amplifier designed to alleviate thermal limitations and to provide better power combining efficiency for an array of high power density semiconductor devices. A semiconductor device having an aggregate size required to provide a desired output power is split into many small thermally isolated “unit cells”, each of which is equipped with antennas for input and for output. Power is combined ‘spatially’ off-chip, with each small unit cell operating at a moderate temperature which will not adversely affect performance.
Claims21
A quasi-optical array amplifier, comprising:
- a substrate;
- and
- an array of unit cells on said substrate, each of said cells comprising:
- at least one transistor having a current circuit and a control input and arranged to conduct an output current in response to an input signal applied to said control input, said transistor characterized as having a high power density;
- an input antenna coupled to and applying an input signal to said transistor's control input;
- and
- an output antenna coupled to said current circuit and providing an output signal;
- said unit cells separated from each other on said substrate by a distance sufficient to ensure that the temperature of one unit cell is not affected by or increased by the dissipated power of neighboring unit cells, such that each unit cell is thermally isolated from every other unit cell;
- said array amplifier arranged such that RF signals propagate through the plane of said array via said input and output antennas and are combined spatially to produce an overall amplifier output.
6 more elements
A quasi-optical array amplifier, comprising:
- a substrate;
- and
- an array of unit cells on said substrate, each of said cells comprising:
- first and second transistors made from a wide bandgap semiconductor material, each having a current circuit and a control input and arranged to conduct an output current in response to an input signal applied to said control input, said pair of transistors connected in a balanced push-pull configuration;
- first and second input antennas coupled to and applying respective input signals to the control inputs of said first and second transistors;
- and
- first and second output antennas coupled to the current circuits of said first and second transistors, respectively, and providing respective output signals;
- said unit cells separated from each other on said substrate by a distance sufficient to ensure that the temperature of one unit cell is not affected by or increased by the dissipated power of neighboring unit cells, such that each unit cell is thermally isolated from every other unit cell;
- said substrate having a thermal conductance sufficient to convey dissipated heat away from said unit cells such that each unit cell is thermally isolated from every other unit cell;
- said array amplifier arranged such that RF signals propagate through the plane of said array via said input and output antennas and are combined spatially to produce an overall amplifier output.
7 more elements
A communication system, comprising:
- a waveguide;
- and
- a quasi-optical array amplifier positioned within said waveguide, said amplifier, comprising:
- a substrate;
- and
- an array of unit cells on said substrate, each of said cells comprising:
- at least one transistor having a current circuit and a control input and arranged to conduct an output current in response to an input signal applied to said control input, said transistor characterized as having a high power density;
- an input antenna coupled to and applying an input signal to said transistor's control input;
- and
- an output antenna coupled to said current circuit and providing an output signal;
- said unit cells separated from each other on said substrate by a distance sufficient to ensure that the temperature of one unit cell is not affected by or increased by the dissipated power of neighboring unit cells, such that each unit cell is thermally isolated from every other unit cell;
- said array amplifier arranged such that RF signals propagate through the plane of said array via said input and output antennas and are combined spatially to produce an overall amplifier output.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.