Development of an 83.2 MHz, 3.2 kW solid-state RF amplifier using Wilkinson power divider and combiner for a 10 MeV cyclotron

We design a stripline-type Wilkinson power divider and combiner for a 3.2 kW solid-state radio frequency (RF) amplifier module and optimize this setup. A Teflon-based printed circuit board is used in the power combiner to transmit high RF power efficiently in the limited space. The reflection coefficient (S₁₁) and insertion loss (S₂₁) related to impedance matching are characterized to determine the optimization process. The resulting two-way divider reflection coefficient and insertion loss were −48.00 dB and −3.22 dB, respectively. The two-way power combiner reflection coefficient and insertion loss were −20 dB and −3.3 dB, respectively. Moreover, the 3.2 kW solid-state RF power test results demonstrate that the proposed power divider and combiner exhibit a maximum efficiency value of 71.3% (combiner loss 5%) at 48 V supply voltage.