Impedance Matching for High Power Devices

Impedance match your high power devices with active and hybrid load pull

Load pull measurements are used to study the response of a device-under-test (DUT) under multiple source and load impedances. By using these techniques designers can develop impedance matching networks for high power, non-linear devices, maximizing their power transfer, output power, gain and efficiency over a broad range of frequencies.

Traditional load pull measurements utilize a passive mechanical tuner to vary the impedance seen by the DUT. Mechanical tuners are simple, low cost and can handle high power. However they may be relatively slow to use, especially when multiple frequencies are to be investigated, and are intrinsically limited due to the losses incurred in the signal path. Since they can be physically large they may also be more difficult to integrate with on-wafer measurement systems.

Active load pull measurements use an external signal source to inject a signal into the output of the DUT in order to emulate the effect of a reflected signal. The system overcomes the problems encountered with mechanical tuners. However, these advantages come with a cost penalty due to the need for high power amplifiers in the tuning chain.

The solution is to use a combination of the two techniques, or hybrid load pull. A mechanical tuner is used to handle the high power levels at the fundamental frequency while active devices are used for the lower power harmonics.

Maury Microwave provides a range of passive, active and hybrid load pull solutions that utilize test instruments from Keysight Technologies, including the PNA-X microwave network analyzer. The PNA-X has wide power range, fast and accurate control of source phase,

Impedance Matching for High Power Devices

clean harmonics, wide frequency coverage from 10 MHz to 50 GHz and a flexible test set to allow the connection of ancillary components.

By utilizing the advanced features of the Keysight PNA-X, Maury Microwave can provide cost-effective active and hybrid load pull systems to allow you to optimize the performance of your large signal, high power devices.