Recent results on compact broad-band and multi-band low-temperature co-fired ceramic components for radio frequency front-ends

Abstract

Compact components for radio frequency (RF) front-ends realised in low-temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCC) are presented. The aim of this study was to highlight recent advances in realisation of different components for modern RF/microwave subsystems, stressing such attributes as compactness, wide bandwidth and operation in multiple bands. Two key components of every RF front-end are filters and couplers. To illustrate the feasibility of using LTCC technology to realise these components, several designs of filters and couplers are presented. Very compact LTCC ridge waveguide filter covering the whole US ultra-wide band is first discussed, followed by a dual-band LTCC ridge waveguide filter. Two types of wide-band couplers are shown: ridge waveguide couplers realised in LTCC and empty metallic waveguide and also a strip-line LTCC coupler. A common characteristic that will be shown is that the presented components by the authors are modelled using computer-aided design tools based on modal analysis for waveguides as well as commercially available finite-element tools. The shown examples have simulation results compared by different methods as well as some experimental results in LTCC and empty metallic waveguide, used to demonstrate the proposed approach.