J. Zou et al., Development of a wide-tuning-range two-parallel-plate tunable capacitor for integrated wireless communication systems, INT J RF MI, 11(5), 2001, pp. 322-329
Citations number
24
Categorie Soggetti
Eletrical & Eletronics Engineeing
Journal title
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RF AND MICROWAVE COMPUTER-AIDED ENGINEERING
This paper reports on the development of a micromachined parallel-plate tun
able capacitor with a wide tuning range. Different from conventional two -p
arallel-plate tunable capacitors, this tunable capacitor consists of one su
spended top plate and two fixed bottom plates. One fixed plate and the top
plate form a variable capacitor, while the other one provides necessary ele
ctrostatic actuation. Among the fabricated prototype devices, a maximum con
trollable tuning range of 69.8%@1 MHz has been obtained experimentally, exc
eeding the theoretical limit (50%) of conventional two-parallel-plate tunab
le capacitors. A component quality factor (Q) of 30@5 GHz and a self-resona
nt frequency far beyond 5 GHz have been achieved. The fabrication process i
s compatible with the existing standard IC (integrated circuit) technology,
which makes it suitable for integrated wireless communication applications
. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.