KR101127093B1 - Structure of internal matching circuit and combiner for high power amplifier using ltcc - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A structure of an internal matching circuit and a combiner for a high power amplifier using LTCC(Low Temperature Cofired Ceramic) is provided to reduce the number of MOS capacitors by using a LTCC integrating capacitor in order to form the inner matching of GaN(Gallium nitride) transistors. CONSTITUTION: A structure of an internal matching circuit and a combiner for a high power amplifier are composed of two inner matching circuits(601) and a combiner(602). The inner matching circuit has one or more dielectric layers, one or more inner electrodes and outer electrode, and one or more capacitors(701) having one or more dielectric layers and one or more inner electrodes and outer electrodes. A second inner capacitor(703) is separated with the first inner capacitor at a predetermined interval. An inductor(705) is formed between the first inner capacitor and the second inner capacitor. The inductor is electrically connected to electrodes on a top part of the first inner capacitor and the second inner capacitor.

Description

Structure of internal matching circuit and combiner for high power amplifier using LTCC}

The present invention relates to an internal matching circuit and a coupler structure of a high power amplifier using LTCC, and more particularly, to an LTCC having an internal matching circuit and a power combiner implemented in a transistor package using a low temperature cofired ceramic (LTCC) material and a lamination process. The internal matching circuit and the combiner structure of the high-power amplifier used.

In general, in order to implement a high output amplifier, a high output device (transistor) is required. Since the output that can be output as a unit device is limited, the outputs of several devices are used in combination.

1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a conventional high output amplifier circuit 100. As shown in FIG. 1, a high output is obtained at the output stage 103 through a combiner 102 that couples the power of each amplification element 101. An example of such a coupler 102 is shown in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 2, the combiner 102 is implemented by merging the lines 204 having a length of λg / 4 at an operating frequency.

3 is a diagram illustrating a circuit 301 and a module 302 of an amplifier implemented by combining two conventional devices. High output is implemented in the same way in FIG. In FIG. 3, the shape of GaN FET device 305 and coupler 306 is shown. As can be seen in Figure 3, a relatively large area is required to implement the tracks of coupler 306 and the like.

In order to realize a high output device, an internal matching circuit is included inside the transistor package. 4 shows the inside of a commercially available high output transistor. As shown in FIG. 4, two high capacitance capacitors 408 are embedded together with a high output chip 407. The two semiconductor capacitors 408 and the high power chip 407 are electrically connected by bonding wires 409 to implement the internal matching circuit 500, as shown in FIG. 5. For reference, since the internal matching circuit 500 facilitates output matching outside the transistor package, the internal matching circuit 500 is implemented inside the high output transistor package.

As described above, an internal matching circuit is included in the device package to implement a high power amplifier, and the packaged devices are combined to obtain a high power amplifier.

However, the conventional high-power amplifier described above is cumbersome and costly because its internal matching circuitry allows the semiconductor capacitor and the amplifier to use mutual bonding wires in the package. In addition, when the coupler is implemented on the substrate, since the transmission line is used, the size of the coupler becomes large, and thus the overall size of the amplifier becomes very large.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to use a low temperature cofired ceramic (LTCC) material and a lamination process so that an internal matching circuit and a power combiner structure of a transistor are implemented inside a transistor package. It provides internal matching circuit and combiner structure of high power amplifier using LTCC.

The internal matching circuit and the combiner structure of the high output amplifier using the LTCC according to the present invention for achieving the above object, in the internal matching circuit and combiner structure of the high output amplifier using the LTCC, two or more internal matching circuit formed inside the LTCC module field; And a coupler formed inside the LTCC module, the coupler for coupling the two or more internal matching circuits, each of the two or more internal matching circuits having a first one having one or more dielectric layers, one or more internal electrodes and an external electrode; Built-in capacitors; A second embedded capacitor having at least one dielectric layer, at least one internal electrode, and an external electrode, the second embedded capacitor spaced apart from the first embedded capacitor by a predetermined distance; And an inductor formed between the first embedded capacitor and the second embedded capacitor, the inductors being electrically connected to the uppermost electrodes of the first embedded capacitor and the second embedded capacitor.

The coupler, external electrodes of the first and second embedded capacitors, and the inductor are formed on the top layer of the LTCC module. The one or more dielectric layers, the one or more internal electrodes and the external electrodes of the first and second embedded capacitors are stacked in the lower direction of the LTCC module.

According to the present invention has the following effects.

1. The use of LTCC integrated capacitors in internal matching of GaN transistors can reduce the number of MOS capacitors and reduce the cost.

2. The inductor is implemented using a pattern on the LTCC rather than wire bonding, allowing for easy tuning and eliminating the wire bonding process, thereby reducing costs.

3. Since LTCC has excellent insulation, it has higher breakdown voltage than MOS capacitor, which is advantageous for high output and high voltage transistor application.

4. Integrating the output coupler into the LTCC structure can minimize the size and reduce the losses.

 5. Since no external coupler is used, cost savings can be achieved by not using multiple device packages.

6. The use of integrated internal matching circuits and external couplers enables high-power amplifiers to be compact and inexpensive.

1 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of a conventional high power amplifier.
2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a conventional power combiner.
3 is a diagram illustrating a conventional high power amplifier circuit diagram and a module fabricated accordingly.
4 is a diagram illustrating a device package structure including an internal matching circuit according to the related art.
FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram illustrating an internal matching circuit shown in FIG. 4.
6 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of a high output amplifier circuit in which an internal matching circuit and a combiner circuit are combined.
7 is a diagram illustrating an internal matching circuit and a combiner structure of a high output amplifier using LTCC according to an embodiment of the present invention.
8A to 8G are diagrams for describing the internal matching circuit and the coupling structure shown in FIG. 7.
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a package structure of a high output amplifier to which the internal matching circuit and the combiner structure shown in FIG. 7 are applied.
10 is a graph showing power characteristics of a device having an internal matching circuit and a coupler structure according to the present invention.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described an embodiment of the present invention;

6 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of a high output amplifier circuit in which an internal matching circuit and a combiner circuit are combined. 7 is a diagram illustrating an internal matching circuit and a combiner structure of a high output amplifier using LTCC according to an embodiment of the present invention. 8A to 8G are diagrams for describing the internal matching circuit and the coupling structure shown in FIG. 7. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a package structure of a high output amplifier to which the internal matching circuit and the combiner structure shown in FIG. 7 are applied. 10 is a graph showing power characteristics of a device having an internal matching circuit and a coupler structure according to the present invention.

First, referring to FIG. 6, two transistors are included in the high output amplifier, and an internal matching circuit 601 and a combiner 602 connected to the input and output terminals of the two transistors are included. Internal matching circuit 601 and coupler 602 are connected to the input terminal of the transistor by wire 603. The coupler 602 of the high output amplifier and the input / output terminals of the high output amplifier are connected to the combiner 602 by a wire 604 through a package component 605.

The internal matching circuit 601 and combiner 602 structures described above are fabricated through an LTCC process. Thus, the internal matching circuit 601 and combiner 602 structures according to the present invention are formed inside the high power amplifier package. That is, the internal matching circuit 601 and the combiner 602 structures of the present invention are formed inside the LTCC module, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 9.

7 and 9, the internal matching circuit and combiner structure of the high power amplifier of the present invention combines two internal matching circuits 601 formed inside the LTCC module, and the internal matching circuits 601. It is composed of a coupler (602). The internal matching circuit 601 may include a first internal capacitor 701 having one or more dielectric layers, one or more internal electrodes and external electrodes, one or more dielectric layers, one or more internal electrodes and external electrodes, as shown in FIG. 8B. And a second internal capacitor 703 spaced apart from the first internal capacitor by a predetermined distance, and formed between the first internal capacitor 701 and the second internal capacitor 703. 701 and an inductor 705 electrically connected between the uppermost electrodes of the second embedded capacitor and both ends thereof.

Preferably, the combiner 602, external electrodes of the first and second internal capacitors 701 and 703, and the inductor 705 are formed on the uppermost layer of the LTCC module. In addition, the one or more dielectric layers, the one or more internal electrodes and the external electrodes of each of the first and second internal capacitors 701 and 703 are formed by being stacked in the lower direction of the LTCC module.

8C to 8G show each layer pattern of the amplifier internal matching circuit and the combiner structure of the present invention shown in FIG. FIG. 8C illustrates a pattern of the uppermost layer of the stacked structure. As described above, the combiner 602, the first and second internal capacitors 701 and 703, and the inductor 705 are integrated. That is, the inductor 705 of the combiner 602 and the matching circuit 601 is implemented on the top surface, and the first and second internal capacitors 701 and 703 for the matching circuit have an area of the top layer and FIGS. 8D to 8F. Each of the inner layers formed thereon may overlap to have a large capacitive capacity. And, as shown in Figure 8g, a ground pattern is formed in the lowest layer, which is connected to the package of the device to form an electrical ground connection.

As shown in FIG. 7, by implementing the structure of the internal matching circuit and the coupler using LTCC technology, it is possible to implement a high dielectric constant and a stacked structure, so that the length of the line can be minimized and the capacitor and the inductor have a small area. Can be implemented. Therefore, the structure of the present invention can be seen as a microstructure integrating the above-described matching circuit using a semiconductor capacitor and bonding wire, and a coupler structure implemented using a transmission line on a PCB, and included in the package of the device. In this case, the semiconductor capacitor and the wire bonding process can be omitted, and the cost of manufacturing the amplifier can be reduced because only one device package is used. In addition, since the size of the combiner that occupies a large area is reduced, the overall size of the amplifier can be reduced, thereby further reducing manufacturing costs. In addition, if the LTCC material having excellent withstand voltage characteristics is used, it is also applicable to an amplifier that requires high voltage for high power.

9 shows an LTCC stack structure implemented inside a device package. In the LTCC stack of FIG. 9, a coupler and an internal matching circuit according to the present invention are integrated and implemented. That is, when the structure according to the present invention is applied, as shown in FIG. 13, since the coupler structure and the internal matching circuit can be integrated in one device package, the existing circuit for coupling several device packages from the outside can be implemented in a small size. It can be implemented at low cost.

10 is a graph showing the output characteristics of the internal matching circuit and coupler coupled by the present invention. In Fig. 10, the output 19 indicated by the dotted line is the output of one element and the output 20 indicated by the solid line is the output of the elements combined by the structure according to the present invention. In each situation, the saturated output showed that the output 48.67 dBm from a single device increased approximately 51.29 dBm after coupling. Not exactly doubled is due to the loss of the coupler structure, which is equivalent to or less than the loss seen in the external coupler of the prior art.

102, 306, 602: Combiner 103: Output stage
204: line 301: amplifier circuit
302: amplifier module 305: GaN FET device
407: high power chip 408, 701, 703: capacitor
409: bonding wire 500, 601: internal matching circuit
705: inductor

Claims (3)

In the internal matching circuit and the combiner structure of the high power amplifier using LTCC,
Two or more internal matching circuits formed inside the LTCC module; And
Is formed inside the LTCC module, and includes a coupler for coupling the two or more internal matching circuits,
Each of the two or more internal matching circuits,
A first embedded capacitor having at least one dielectric layer, at least one inner electrode and an outer electrode;
A second embedded capacitor having at least one dielectric layer, at least one internal electrode, and an external electrode, the second embedded capacitor spaced apart from the first embedded capacitor by a predetermined distance; And
An inductor formed between the first embedded capacitor and the second embedded capacitor, the inductor electrically connected to the uppermost electrodes of the first embedded capacitor and the second embedded capacitor;
The coupler, external electrodes of the first and second embedded capacitors, and the inductor are formed on the uppermost layer of the LTCC module
Internal Matching Circuit and Coupler Structure of High Power Amplifier Using LTCC.
delete The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more dielectric layers, the one or more internal electrodes and the external electrodes of the first and second internal capacitors are stacked in the lower direction of the LTCC module.
Internal Matching Circuit and Coupler Structure of High Power Amplifier Using LTCC.

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