Precision fabrication techniques and analysis on high-Q evanescent-mode resonators and filters of different geometries

High-Q evanescent-mode resonators and filters are realized by both silicon micromachining and layer-by-layer polymer processing. Capacitively loaded cavities can be reduced to a size much smaller than a wavelength, but still have a much higher unloaded Q than lumped elements. The loaded resonators are utilized for reduced-size filters with a low insertion loss enabled by the relatively high-Q factor. The small fabrication tolerances of silicon micromachining and polymer stereolithography processing enable the realization of highly loaded evanescent-mode resonators and filters. A 14-GHz resonator micromachined in silicon has a volume of 5 mm /spl times/ 5 mm /spl times/ 0.45 mm, representing a resonant frequency reduction of 66.8% compared to an empty cavity of the same dimensions. The polymer-based fabrication is used to create resonators of different three-dimensional geometries with Q's up to 1940 and frequency reductions up to 49.9%. An insertion loss of 0.83 dB is measured in a 1.69% bandwidth filter created by polymer processing with a frequency reduction of 47% compared to an unloaded cavity. The frequency sensitivity to fabrication tolerances of these structures is also analyzed.