The global RF power semiconductor market is presently valued at approximately $1.5 billion1. These devices provide the RF amplification for a wide variety of applications, from MRI to broadcast transmitters, radar systems and cellular base stations. Choosing the right component category is critical to developing amplifier systems that meet performance, size, cost and time-to-market requirements, and there are multiple options to consider. This paper covers component construction options avaialble for all RF power amplifier technologies, including but not limited to GaN.

There are three broadly available RF power semiconductor devices−discrete transistors, impedance matched field effect transistors (IMFETs), and MMIC amplifier ICs. Each device has a unique value proposition that will be addressed in this paper.

How much integration do you need? Defining discrete transistors, IMFETs and MMIC amplifiers…