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Completed TRL 2 (started at 1, targeting 3)
We are designing and building a new type of millimeter-wave high power amplifier, that will enable Watt-class to tens-of-Watt-class transmitter sources at W-Band (75-110 GHz, including 94 GHz). Having compact high power W-band sources in the 2-30 Watt range could enable a new science and engineering instruments, for Cloud radar and Landing radar.
This work is developing a spatial-power-combining scheme using electromagnetic cavities and GaN MMIC chips, scaled up by a factor of 40 in frequency from prior art to make a highly compact, efficient W-Band power amplifier, in the 2-10 Watt power range.
A new cloud radar using this compact power amplifier, capable of fitting on a small satellite (aka CloudCube, a counterpart to RainCube), would enable cloud radar science in a compact, efficient package, for the next generation of low-cost, low-mass Earth science instruments for spacecraft in the 25-50 kg class. Enables W-Band landing radar in low dust environment.
Defense and homeland security could benefit from the high power GaN source that we develop at W-Band (millimter-wave imaging, crowd control, automotive radar).
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