AD-009

AD-009: Nitronex NPTB00004 GaN HEMT

Tuned for 2.5 to 2.7GHz Driver Applications

Application board AD-009 with a Nitronex NPTB00004 GaN HEMT device outputs
approximately 29dBm of average RF power under single carrier OFDM (WiMAX)
modulation1 and approximately 12.5dB gain with 22% drain efficiency at 2.5% EVM
(IDQ=50mA). All measurements were collected at 2.5 – 2.7GHz with a drain bias of
VDS=+28.0V.

Caution: Do not operate the device with greater than 36 volts of drain-source
potential and IDQ >150mA. Drain current can exceed 150ma under RF drive.
Note, the gate bias is negative and is fully pinched off at approximately –1.8V.

Caution: Do not exceed 5 dB of gain compression with a single tone signal or expose
the device to a strong reversal of the gate leakage current – from negative to positive.
Note: Device saturation is reached when the polarity of the gate current turns positive, a
small positive gate current of +3 ma will not harm the device but once the current turns
positive it will grow exponentially with additional RF driver level. Maximum Pin should
not exceed 20 dBm.

Biasing sequence: GaN HEMTs are depletion mode devices, therefore

set the gate voltage to –2.0V, bring drain voltage up to 28VDC, adjust gate
to obtain desired IDQ, and then enable RF. Turn off device in the reverse
sequence

1
64 QAM ¾, 8 burst, 10 MHz, 10.3 dB PAR @ 0.01% CCDF , full data frame

APB07-212 1 of 3
 AD-009

AD-009 NPTB00004 Application Board Layout / BOM

A C E F G
3 Name Value Description Vendor Vendor Number
4 C1 10uF CAP TANTALUM 10UF 16V 20% SMD AVX TAJA106M016R
5 C2 1uF CAP CERM 1.0UF 10% 100V X7R 1210 AVX 12101C105KAT2A
6 C3 0.1uF CAP CER .1UF 100V X7R 0603 Murata GRM188R72A104KA35D
7 C4 0.01uF CAP CER .01UF 10% 100V X7R 0603 AVX 06031C103KAT2A
8 C5 0.001F CAP CER 1000PF 10% 100V X7R 0603 AVX 06031C102KAT2A
9 C6 33pF CAP CER 33pF 0805 ATC ATC600F330B
10 C7 100uF CAP 100UF 63V ELECT VS SMD Panasonic ECE-V1JA101P
11 C8 1uF CAP CERM 1.0UF 10% 100V X7R 1210 AVX 12101C105KAT2A
12 C9 0.1uF CAP CER .1UF 100V X7R 0603 Murata GRM188R72A104KA35D
13 C10 0.01uF CAP CER .01UF 10% 100V X7R 0603 AVX 06031C103KAT2A
14 C11 0.001F CAP CER 1000PF 10% 100V X7R 0603 AVX 06031C102KAT2A
15 C12 33pF CAP CER 33pF 0805 ATC ATC600F330B
16 C13 2.7pF CAP CER 2.7pF 0805 ATC ATC600F2R7B
17 C14 10pF CAP CER 10pF 0805 ATC ATC600F100B
18 C15 0.8pF CAP CER 0.8pF 0805 ATC ATC600F0R8B
19 C16 3.3pF CAP CER 3.3pF 0805 ATC ATC600F3R3B
20 J1 CONN HEADER 3POS .100" R/A TIN Molex 90121-0123
21 J2 SMA Jack 2-Hole Flange Amphenol Connex 132262
22 J3 SMA Jack 2-Hole Flange Amphenol Connex 132262
23 Q1 Nitronex Nitronex NPTB00004
24 R1 200 ohm RES 200 OHM 1/16W 1% 0402 SMD Panasonic ERJ-2GEJ201X
25 R3 0 ohm RES ZERO OHM 1/16W 5% 0402 SMD Panasonic ERJ-2GE0R00X
26 R4 0.033 ohm RES 0.033 OHM 1/16W 5% 0402 SMD Panasonic ERJ-6BWJR033W
27 R5 0 ohm RES ZERO OHM 1/16W 5% 0402 SMD Panasonic ERJ-2GE0R00X
28 MD-0001 Heat Sink Base with aavshield Al Plating Aavid Extrusion#: 64690
29 nbd-012_rev1 PCB - nbd-012_rev1

APB07-212 2 of 3
 AD-009

AD-009 NPTB00004 WiMax Data

AD-009: WiMax Performance of the NPTB00004 at 2.5GHz

(Vds: 28V, Idq: 50mA)

40 4
Gain (dB)
35
Gain (dB), Drain DE (%)
Efficiency (%)
30 3
EVM (%)

EVM (%)
25
20 2
15
10 1
5
0 0
18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32
Pout (dBm)

AD-009: WiMax Performance of the NPTB00004 at 2.6GHz

(Vds: 28V, Idq: 50mA)

40 4
Gain (dB)
35
DE (%)
Gain (dB), Drain

30 3
Efficiency (%)

EVM (%)

EVM (%)
25
20 2
15
10 1
5
0 0
16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32
Pout (dBm)

AD-009: WiMax Performance of the NPTB00004 at 2.7GHz

(Vds: 28V, Idq: 50mA)

40 4
Gain (dB)
35
DE (%)
Gain (dB), Drain

30 3
Efficiency (%)

EVM (%)
EVM (%)

25
20 2
15
10 1
5
0 0
14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32
Pout (dBm)

APB07-212 3 of 3