On Fri, 27 Aug 2004 19:28:39 +0100, Paul Burridge
wrote:

On Fri, 27 Aug 2004 08:07:02 -0700, John Larkin
wrote:

I think the RF guys (I'm not one!) call an amplifier "linear" if the
RF output amplitude follows the input drive amplitude. You can do this
with a transistor that has very low quiescent bias. So "linear" does
not mean "class A" to them. The key here is that an RF amp has a tuned
output, whereas an audio amp doesn't. So the lopsided bias would
normally produce intolerable distortion in something like audio, but
the tuned output circuit changes the pulsey-looking collector/drain
current back into a nice sine wave. So you don't need a lot of idle
current, and the transistor really amplifies half of the incoming sine
cycle.

Most mosfets are pretty nicely linear (ie, straight-line Ic/Vd curve)
beyond the initial knee. You could get gobs of watts at zero standing
current, but then you'd have some zero-clipping (no output) for the
smallest drive levels, so a little idle current helps.

The only sensible way to do it AFAICS is to operate the MOSFET in
class C as a high speed switch and reconstruct the pulsed output into
a sine wave carrier by means of a suitable tuned circuit. I wouldn't
consider driving a MOSFET for RF use in any other way. The efficiency
should be pretty darned good, too.

That means, to get a linear amp, the input signal has to be converted
to PWM gate drive. That's hard to do at high frequencies. At 300 MHz,
a power mosfet doesn't much look like a high-speed switch any more.

John