Compact microstrip band-pass filters based on semi-lumped resonators

A new design approach for compact microstrip band-pass filter based on semi-lumped resonators are proposed. The resonators, which are coupled through quarter wavelength meander lines acting as admittance inverters, are shunt connected to the line. They consist of parallel combination of a grounded (inductive) stub and a narrow metallic strip followed by a capacitive patch to ground. With this topology, the necessary degree of flexibility to design narrow and broad-band-pass filters with compact dimensions and good out-of-band performance was obtained. Another key advantage of the devices, as compared to previous lumped or semi-lumped element- based structures reported by the authors, is the absence of ground plane etching. To illustrate the potentiality of the proposed approach, a third-order (30% fractional bandwidth) and a nineth-order (35% fractional bandwidth) Chebyshev band-pass filters have been designed and fabricated. The measured frequency responses are very symmetric and exhibit low in-band losses as well as good out-of-band rejection up to approximately 3f_o. Filter dimensions are as small as 0.40lambda times 0.12lambda (third-order prototype) and 0.62lambda times 0.16lambda (nineth-order prototype), lambda being the guided wavelength at f_o. With these dimensions and performance, and the possibility to synthesise microstrip filters with controllable bandwidth over a wide margin, it is believed that the reported approach can be of actual interest for the design of planar filters at microwave frequencies.     

Modeling and experimental investigation of microstrip resonators and filters based on High-Temperature Superconductor films

Complex approach to the investigation of microstrip resonators and filters based on High-Temperature Superconductor (HTS) films is described, which includes modeling of the electrodynamic parameters of HTS films, designing of microstrip resonators and filters, their manufacturing, and testing. Test samples were prepared using YBCO films on 0.5-mm-thick lanthanum aluminate substrates. The resonators and filter structures were patterned using ion-beam photolithography. Experimental data were used to determine the parameters of the model of surface impedance of the YBCO film and the film thickness and permittivity. Adequacy of the model and reliability of the model parameters, which were used for the synthesis and design of a 4th-order filter, were confirmed by coincidence of the experimental and calculated characteristics.     

Narrowband filters with tightly coupled resonators

The design of narrowband combline filters implemented in double-layered microstrip is presented. The filters realise finite-frequency transmission zeros located within close proximity with respect to their passband edges. This is achieved by tightly coupling the resonators of the filters. Experimental evaluation of several fabricated filters demonstrates the principle.     

Dual-mode microstrip filters with adjustable transmission zeros

A new type of dual-mode microstrip square-loop resonator that produces asymmetrical frequency responses is proposed. The coupling between degenerate modes of the proposed dual-mode resonator is discussed depending on the perturbation size. The effect of non-orthogonal input/output feed lines located along a straight line on the frequency response is investigated using full-wave electromagnetic simulations. Two second-order bandpass filters using this type of dual-mode microstrip resonator are designed, fabricated and measured to demonstrate the dual-mode microstrip filters exhibiting transmission zero (TZ) shifting property. The one of the second-order filters produces a filter characteristic with two TZs in the upper stopband, whereas the other one has two TZs in the lower and upper stopbands. The shifting property of one of the TZs from one side of the passband to the other side is realised by only changing the perturbation size. The fourth-order filters of this type are also investigated. Both simulated and measured results are presented.     

Microstrip bandpass filters based on zeroth-order resonators with complementary split ring resonators

The zeroth-order resonant (ZOR) properties of the left-handed material (LHM) unit cells composed of complementary split ring resonators and series gaps are analysed. The method to determine the resonant frequency and susceptance slope parameter is proposed. A bandpass filter (BPF) is designed by connecting the ZORs with admittance inverters. Experimental verification is provided and a good agreement has been found between the simulation and measurement. Compared with the bandpass structure fabricated by simply cascading the same amount of LHM unit cells, the proposed BPF has much better selectivity, more symmetrical responses and controllable bandwidth.     

A microstrip diplexer based on dual-mode resonators

A miniature third-order microstrip diplexer comprising a traditional T-shaped dual-mode resonator at the input and one dual-mode resonator of original design, with regular strip conductors split from one end, at the output of each channel. The passband formation in each channel of the diplexer involves two resonances of the lowest modes of one split microstrip resonator and the resonance of one of the two modes of the T-shaped microstrip resonator. The proposed device is simple to manufacture and allows the central frequencies and bandwidths in each channel to be varied within broad limits. The good prospects of the proposed microstrip diplexer are confirmed by the high characteristics of its working prototype.     

Miniaturised dual-mode microstrip bandpass filters with wide upper stopband

Dual-mode bandpass filters with miniaturised size and wide upper stopband are presented here. The miniaturisation is realised by resorting to the proposed unilateral and bilateral stepped-impedance open stubs. With adequate design, the loaded capacitance values of a stepped-impedance open stub can achieve 3.2 times the counterpart of a uniform impedance resonator. In addition, the proposed resonator is featured of an additional transmission zero in the upper stopband. To establish the necessary capacitive input/output couplings, filters with only one coupling arm is demonstrated and an enhanced rejection level of the upper stopband is obtained. Results show that the proposed filters cannot only reduce the circuit size up to 68%, but also achieve wide upper stopband as well.     

Novel compact microstrip interdigital bandstop filters

A novel compact microstrip interdigital band-stop filter is designed and implemented. The structure is similar to that of an interdigital capacitor. The input port and output ports are connected to form the bandstop characteristic. This proposed filter with microstrip interdigital geometry not only exhibits good bandstop characteristics and a tunable central frequency, but it also is easy to fabricate and integrate. The features of this microstrip interdigital bandstop filter are smaller than those of the conventional bandstop filter. Simulation results closely correspond to the experiments.     

Single- and dual-passband microwave planar filters with coupled double-transmission-line resonators

A type of planar double-transmission-line resonator, consisting of two open-ended half-wavelength transmission-line segments edge inter-coupled along their entire length, is proposed. This microwave resonator, because of the generation of double resonances, allows coupled-line bandpass filters with reduced longitudinal length to be implemented. This is the main contribution of this work. Furthermore, as an added feature of the aforementioned resonator, its two-line geometry makes it suitable for dual-band bandpass filter design. To prove the concept experimentally, two different examples of single- and one dual-passband microstrip filter prototypes within the 1-1.5 GHz range are synthesised, constructed and tested. The major advantages of these filter solutions are emphasised. A complementary section dealing with the analysis of the split-type double-transmission-line resonator is also reported. Here, as a result of this study, formulas for its exact design are provided for the first time.     

Phase noise in surface-acoustic-wave filters and resonators

Measurements of the phase noise modulation imparted on UHF carriers by surface-acoustic-wave (SAW) filters and resonators have been made using an HP 3047 spectrum analyzer. Three different types of SAW phase noise were observed. One type can be explained by temperature fluctuations. It is characterized by a spectral density of phase fluctuations which decreases as 1/f(2). The predominant noise mechanism in most SAW devices has a 1/f spectral density. The source of this noise is unknown, but it appears to be associated with both acoustic propagation and transduction. In filters fabricated on lithium niobate substrates, a third noise mechanism is evidenced. This mechanism produces nonstationary noise bursts that appear to originate in the transducer region. Experiments have been carried out on substrate materials, transducer metallizations, and over acoustic path lengths. The means by which low-frequency fluctuations are mixed to the carrier frequency have been studied.     

A miniature dual-band filter based on microstrip dual-mode resonators

A microstrip dual-band bandpass filter (DBF) with an original miniature design is described. The filter consists of thee microstrip dual-mode resonators, which are rendered dual-mode by splitting their regular strip conductors from one end by longitudinal slots. The formation of one passband of the DBF involves the resonances of even modes of each microstrip double-mode resonator, while the other passband is formed by the resonances of odd modes. The proposed device is simple to manufacture and allows the central frequencies and widths of each passband to be tuned within broad limits. A method of DBF tuning has been developed. Good prospects of the proposed microstrip DBF are confirmed by the high characteristics of its working prototype.     

Reduced-size multilayer X-band filters with stacked resonators on a flexible organic substrate

This work presents the design of two four-pole, quasi-elliptic microwave bandpass filters with stacked open-loop resonators on an emerging low-loss organic dielectric material. Both filters are based on a multilayer microstrip structure that uses low-cost and flexible liquid crystal polymer substrates to produce a compact size. The first filter, which has a bandwidth of 17% at 9.3 GHz, was designed to control the high coupling strength between overlapped resonators without sacrificing its compact size. It has a measured 1.7 dB of insertion loss. The second filter uses the same topology, but its measured parameters include a bandwidth of 9% at 10.5 GHz and an insertion loss of 4.5 dB. To achieve the 9% bandwidth, two metallic patches were added between layers to limit the higher coupling between the overlapped resonators. Both bandpass filters have a footprint area reduction of at least 25% when compared to an equivalent single-layer, open-loop resonator filter.     

High Q printed helical resonators for oscillators and filters

High Q compact printed helical resonators which operate from around 1.8 to 2 GHz are described. These consist of a multilayer printed circuit board (PCB) incorporating a printed helical transmission line. Loss in the via hole is reduced by ensuring that the standing wave current at this point is near zero. This ensures a significant increase in Q. Further increased energy storage per unit volume is achieved due to the 3-D helical nature of the resonator. Unloaded Qs of 235 and 195 have been obtained on low loss PCBs with dielectric constants of 2.2 and 10.5, respectively. Two applications for these resonators are described in this paper. The first is the design of a compact low noise oscillator where the ratio of QL/Q0, and hence insertion loss, is adjusted for low noise. The 2-GHz oscillator demonstrates a phase noise of -120 dBc/Hz at 10 kHz which is predicted exactly by the theory. The second is a three-section filter designed to offer the response required by the front end filter of a modern GSM mobile telephone. In the filter design three helical resonators are coupled together to produce a completely printed triplate bandpass filter.     

Longitudinal leaky SAW resonators and filters on YZ-LiNbO3.

The high-phase velocity (above 6100 m/s in an aluminum (Al) grating on lithium niobate (LiNbOs)) of the longitudinal leaky surface acoustic wave (SAW) (LLSAW) mode makes it attractive for application in high-frequency SAW ladder filters in the 2-5 GHz range. We investigate the dependence of one-port synchronous LLSAW resonator performance on YZ-LiNbO3 on the metallization thickness and metallization ratio, both experimentally and theoretically. Our results indicate a strong dependence of the Q factor and resonance frequency on the aluminum thickness, with the optimal thickness that produces the highest Q values being about 8%. The optimal thickness increases with the metallization ratio. The observed behavior is interpreted with the help of simulations using a combined finite element method (FEM)/boundary element method (BEM) technique. As an application, bandpass filters have been fabricated in the 2.8 GHz frequency regime, based on LLSAWs. The synchronous resonators constituting the ladder filters operate in the fundamental mode. The filters feature low insertion losses below 3 dB and wide relative passbands of 4.5-5%.     

新型宽频带微带贴片天线的设计

提出了一种新颖的展宽三角形微带贴片天线工作频带的设计方法．通过在三角形微带贴片侧边附近加载与之平行的缝隙来实现双频工作,并添加一对平行于底边的缝隙使两个频点靠近,利用仿真软件进行优化,有效地展宽了贴片天线的频带．制作了实际的贴片天线,结果表明所设计天线的工作带宽(VSWR<2)是普通三角形微带天线的4.46倍,且天线尺寸与同频率的常规贴片天线相比缩小了9.3%．测量结果与仿真结果吻合,证明了所提方法的有效性．     

Bandpass filters for 8 GHz using solidly mounted bulk acoustic wave resonators

Frequency shift, design, and fabrication issues have been investigated for the realization of 8 GHz bandpass filters based on AlN thin film bulk acoustic wave resonators. Fabrication includes well-textured AlN thin films on Pt (111) electrodes and SiO/sub 2//AlN Bragg gratings for the solidly mounted resonators. The chosen ladder filter design requires the tuning of the shunt resonators with respect to the series one. For this purpose, mass loading of the shunt resonators with aluminum (Al) and SiO/sub 2/ were studied. Design simulations showed that the channel bandwidth can be doubled by shifting more than the difference of resonance and antiresonance frequency. Bandpass filters at 8 GHz were successfully fabricated with -5.5 dB insertion loss, -26 dB out-of-band rejection, 99 MHz (1.2%) /spl plusmn/0.2 dB channel bandwidth, and 224 MHz (2.8%) 3 dB bandwidth. The group delay variations within any 30 MHz channel inside the channel bandwidth amounts to <0.2 ns. Comparisons with simulation calculations and single resonator characteristics show that each /spl pi/-section includes a parasitic series resistance and inductance.     

Longitudinal leaky SAW resonators and filters on YZ-LiNbO/sub 3/

The high-phase velocity (above 6100 m/s in and aluminum (Al) grating on lithium niobate (LiNbO/sub 3/)) of the longitudinal leaky surface acoustic wave (SAW) (LLSAW) mode makes it attractive for application in high-frequency SAW ladder filters in the 2-5 GHz range. We investigate the dependence of one-port synchronous LLSAW resonator performance or YZ-LiNbO/sub 3/ on the metallization thickness and metallization ratio, both experimentally and theoretically. Our results indicate a strong dependence of the Q factor and resonance frequency on the aluminum thickness, with the optimal thickness that produces the highest Q values being about 8%. The optimal thickness increases with the metallization ratio. The observed behavior is interpreted with the help of simulations using a combined finite element method (FEM)/boundary element method (BEM) technique. As an application, bandpass filters have been fabricated in the 2.8 GHz frequency regime, based on LL-SAWs. The synchronous resonators constituting the ladder filters operate in the fundamental mode. The filters feature low insertion losses below 3 dB and wide relative passbands of 4.5-5%.     

Synthesis and applications of new left handed microstrip lines with complementary split-ring resonators etched on the signal strip

A new type of left handed microstrip lines implemented by means of complementary split-ring resonators (CSRRs) is proposed. The CSRRs are etched on the signal strip alternating with series gaps. Additionally, shunt connected stubs are introduced for the first time to the previous structure. The combination of these three elements, that is, the series gaps, the CSRR and the shunt inductance, enhances design flexibility. By this means, the ground plane is left unaltered and narrow band artificial transmission lines with good performance and compact dimensions can be synthesised. The lumped element equivalent circuit model of the structure is proposed and validated. To demonstrate the applicability of these new left handed transmission lines, two compact microwave components have been designed and fabricated: (i) a narrow band power divider and (ii) a band pass filter. The resulting power divider is 75% smaller than the conventional implementation and 50% smaller than previous power dividers implemented by means of CSRRs. The band pass filter performance is comparable to that of previous CSRR-based filters with ground plane etching, whereas its size is smaller. This work represents a significant progress on the design of microwave components based on CSRRs, that is, the approach is opened to those systems where the ground plane cannot be etched.     

Surface plasmon polariton based band-pass and stop-band filters in symmetric double ring resonators

We carried out the numerical simulations on plasmonic filters composed by a Metal–Insulator–Metal (MIM) waveguide and a resonator of double rings. Both the band-pass filter and stop-band filters are discussed. The results show that the characteristic wavelengths of the band-pass or stop-band filter have red shift when the size of the resonator increases. The filters of double-ring resonator show better sensitivity on the wavelength than the one for the single ring. The simulations are based on the two-dimensional (2D) finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. The introduced filters have potential applications on optical integrated circuits.