New Thick-Film Microwave Elements for Microwave Integrated Circuits

Abstract

The realisation of microwave integrated circuits consisting of numerous elements and components, both passive and active, takes place in steps. Initially, experimental constituent elements are designed and constructed, and only after it is found that they satisfy the operating conditions, can they be integrated into a sub-system. As a result of this we obtain complicated Microwave Integrated Circuits (MICs). Initially however one has to construct basic MIC elements such as: resonators, filters, couplings, Y branch joints, circulators, etc. During research over several years carried out at the Microelectronics Department, Institute of Electronics, of the Mining and Metallurgical University of Kraków and devoted to the application of thick-film technology to MIC, the authors have devised and constructed several microwave elements using strip-lines and this paper reports of the results of their studies.Pastes produced by DU PONT/USA were used. New mathematical models for designing thick-film microwave elements have been elaborated using computer techniques. These programmes have differed from analogous ones for MIC realized by thin-film technology can be adapted, after certain modifications, to the realisation of MIC. The authors have introduced new technological operations, not used so far, to the technological process. This has made possible the production of thick-film microwave elements with parameters comparable to those obtained in thin-film technology.