Intermodulation distortion performance enhancement of microwave power amplifiers

Abstract

This thesis reports the author's investigation of the effects of the injection of specific signals on the intermodulation distortion performance of microwave power amplifiers. Theory, simulation and practical results are presented, analysed and compared. The thesis gives the reader background knowledge of power amplifiers and their nonlinearities and go on to analyse the phenomena of intermodulation distortion product generation in power amplifiers. The analysis is based on a three-tone test since this highlights a second kind of third order intermodulation distortion (IMD3), which are in general higher in amplitude than the first kind of IMD3 found in a two-tone test. A mathematical analysis and a simulation of a MESFET amplifier are performed. It enables the comparison of the performance of IMD cancellation by injection of signals whose frequencies are chosen to be first, the second harmonic of the fundamental signals, second, the sum of the fundamental signal frequencies and finally the difference frequencies of the fundamental signals. A practical implementation of the difference frequency technique is then presented and practical results are compared to the other two techniques of second harmonic injection and the injection of the sum of fundamental frequencies. It is further shown that in practise these two techniques may be considered as a single technique.