3/6/2017 CurrentTechniquesforTuningDielectricResonators

CurrentTechniquesforTuningDielectric
Resonators
Advantagesanddisadvantagesofthevariouselectronictuningtechniquesfordielectricresonators

B.S.Virdee
October1,1998

CurrentTechniquesforTuningDielectricResonators
Electronictuningofdielectricresonatorsoverarelativelywiderangewhilealsopreservingtheir
characteristicsishighlydesirable,especiallyforuseinnonaccessablesystemssuchasairborneor
spacebornesystemsorinareasofhighsophisticationsuchascellularradiosystems.Thisarticlereviewsthe
advantagesanddisadvantagesofthevariouselectronictuningtechniquesavailablecurrently.

B.S.Virdee
UniversityofNorthLondon,SchoolofCommunicationsTechnology&MathematicalSciences
London,UK

Asurveyofcommunicationsystems,particularlythosewithworkingfrequenciesrangingfrom0.5to20
GHz,revealsthatanurgentneedexistsforgoodquality,small,competitiveand,moreimportantly,tunable
resonantdevices.ExamplesincludeUHFmobileradiosystems(towardthelowerfrequenciesofthisrange)
andradarandsatellitecommunicationssystems(towardthehigherfrequencies).Itisevidentthatthe
requirementsofsuchadevicedependonthetypeofapplication.Forexample,theimportantprerequisitefor
acellsitebasestationpowercombinerusedinaradiomobilestationisahighQfiltercapableofhandling
powerintherangeoftensofwatts.Forairborneandspacebornesystemssuchassatellitecommunications,
themostimportantfactorsusuallyareaheavyconstraintonbothsizeandweightandstrictrequirementson
thedevicetuningspeedforfrequencyhoppingorrapidlytuningthereceiverfrontendfilters/preselectors.

Exceptfortunability,mostoftheserequirementsarefulfilledbyaresonantceramicmaterialknownasa
dielectricresonator(DR).Althoughinitiallydevelopedin1939,1theseceramicsdidnotfindapplicationsin
microwavecircuitsuntilthelate1960s2,3becauseoftheuncontrolledtemperaturecoefficientoftheresonant
frequency.Thefirstapplicationappearedin1968whentheDRwasusedasamicrowavefilterelement.
Sincethen,utilizationofDRsinbothfiltersandoscillatorshasproliferated.

Currently,DRsareconsideredoneofthemoreimportantmicrowavedevices.Besidesbeingversatileand
adaptabletovariousmicrowavestructuresandconfigurations,theyfillagapthatexistsbetweenwaveguide
andstriplinetechnologies.Theceramicsprovidequalityfactorsandtemperaturestabilitybetterthanthoseof
invarcavityresonatorsalongwithanintegrationcapabilityapproachingthatofstriplineresonators.DRsare
alsoprogressivelyreplacingthelargeandcostlymetalcavityresonatorinalmostallapplications.

Commonlycylindricalinshape,DRssustainthesameelectromagneticfieldmodesasthoseofa
conventionalmetallicresonatorcavityandbehaveinasimilarway,exceptthattheelectromagneticfields
extendbeyondthebulkofthedevice.4Forthisreason,DRsareusuallyplacedinsideametalshieldto
preventexternalinteractions.

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WhyisElectronicTuningofDRsNeeded?

MostDRsimplementedinmicrowavecircuits(suchasfiltersandVCOs)aretunedoradjustedmechanically.
ThistuningisachievedbyperturbingthefielddistributionsurroundingtheDRthroughthemovementof
metallicordielectricobjects(eithermanuallyorelectrically)byusing,forexample,astepmotor.5

Itisobviousthatmechanicaltuninginvolvesmechanicalpartsinmotion.Therefore,theprocessisslowand
inaccurateand,hence,nothighlyreliable.Evenifthisapproachissatisfactoryinsomecases,itiscertainly
notsuitableforapplicationssuchasfrequencyhoppingorfrequencymodulationwherehightuningspeedis
needed.Moreover,someskillisneededonthepartoftheengineerortechnicianmakingtheadjustmenton
sitethisrequirementcanmakethetuningexpensive.

ElectronictuningofDRsoverawiderangewhilepreservingtheircharacteristicsishighlydesirable,
especiallyforuseininaccessiblesystemssuchasairborneorspacebornesystemsorinareasofhigh
sophisticationsuchascellularradiosystems.Automaticadjustmentortuningthatiscontrolled,ifnecessary,
fromadistanceviaacommunicationlinkthenmustbeconsidered.

TuningTechniques

Essentially,DRtuningcanbeaccomplishedbymodifyingthevariouselectromagneticfieldssupportedby
theresonator.Currently,threeprincipalnonmechanicaltechniquesareavailablethatarecapableofachieving
thistuning:varactor,ferriteandoptical.However,fromapracticalpointofview,ferriteandopticaltuning
haveanumberofdifficultiesassociatedwiththem,whicharediscussedinthisarticle.Consequently,the
approachmostcommonlyadoptedreliesontheelectronictuningaffordedbycouplingvaractordiodestothe
DR.

ADRcanbetunedoveranapproximate10percentbandwidthbyperturbingtheresonator'smagneticfield.
Thistuningcanbeachievedbyvaryingtheairgapbetweentheceramicdiscandmetalenclosurewith,for
example,amovablemetalplateorscrewcoaxialwiththeceramicdisc.Thetuningmechanisminvolvedhere
canbeexplainedbytheperturbationalprinciple.6Namely,whenametalwallofanyresonantcavityis
movedinward,thechangeinresonantfrequencyisproportionaltothedifferenceinstoredmagneticand
electricenergieswiththedisplacedvolume.

Withelectronictuning,sincethereisnovolumedisplaced,thefrequencyvariationisrelatedtothechangein
theenergystoredinthereactanceofthesystem.Inbothcases,itisevidentthattheadjustmentofthe
resonantfrequencytoaprescribedvalueisbasedontheperturbationofthefringingfieldsoutsidethe
resonator.Foraparticularmode,thetuningrangeisdeterminedbytheamountofthisperturbation.For
example,ifthetuningmechanismincreasesthestoredmagneticenergywithrespecttotheelectricenergy,
theresonantfrequencywillshifttowardhigherfrequencies4withadeviationproportionaltotheenergy
difference.Ifthetuningmechanismdecreases,theshiftwillbetowardlowerfrequencies.Thus,awide
tuningbandwidthrequiresastrongperturbation,whichmaydegradethesystemqualitydrastically.A
compromisebetweenthetuningbandwidthandDRqualitiesisnecessary.

DRfrequencycontrolmaybeaccomplishedeitherbysolidstatedevicessuchasvaractorsorPINdiodes,or
lowlossmagneticmaterialssuchasasinglecrystalyttriumirongarnetsphereordiscferrite.Discferrite
materialsarebasedonthecontrolofthemagneticfieldandleadtoasubstantialtuningrangeof250MHzat
8GHzwhilemaintainingahighresonatorunloadedQ(greaterthan1000).7However,likemostofthe
mechanismsbasedonmagneticmaterials,methodsutilizingferritematerialsusuallyrequirealargeand
cumbersomeelectromagnetforproducingthecontrollingmagneticfield.Furthermore,becausetheyare
currentdriven,thematerials'tuningspeedusuallyisveryslow(0.5MHz/s)andsubjecttophasenoise.In
addition,becauseofthenatureoftheferritematerial,theelectronictuningcharacteristicusuallyhas
hysteresisassociatedwithit.ThesefeaturesnegatesomeoftheadvantagesofferedbyDRcircuits,
particularlyinviewofthestringentpowerandvolumerequirementsofmanymodernsystems.Figure1
showstheconfigurationusedforthistypeoftuning.

Fastertuningcanbeachievedbysolidstatedevices,whichusuallyarevaractordiodesifcontinuoustuning
isdesiredorPINdiodesinthecaseofdiscretetuning.Thefourmainmethodsofcouplingvaractordiodesto

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theDRaredescribed.Ineachcase,aTE01dmodeisemployedbecauseoftheeasewithwhichtheresonant
frequency,Qfactorandcouplingcoefficientcanbecalculatedusingsimplemodels.8
Moreover,thestructureoftheelectromagneticfieldsofthisparticularmodeallows
therealizationofsmall,compactcircuits.

Thefirstmethod,showninFigure2,involvesplacingthevaractorsonthe
mechanicaltuningplate,whichislocateddirectlyabovethe
resonator.Theprincipaladvantageofthisapproachisthat,
inordertoobtainanappreciableamountofelectronic
tuning,thevaractorsmustbecoupledtightlytothecircuit
byreducingtheseparationbetweenthetopoftheresonator
andthetuningplate.Thisconfigurationcanseriously
degradetheresonators'unloadedQfactor.However,the
techniquehasbeenusedtoproduce4MHzofelectronic
tuningina14GHzdielectricresonatoroscillator(DRO).9

Thesecondmethodofcouplingvaractorstothe
electromagneticfieldofanexcitedresonatoristoconnect
thevaractorsdirectlytotworesonantringshapedconductivetracksfabricatedona
quartzdiscthatisplacedontopoftheresonator,asshowninFigure3.Thedegree
ofcouplingiscontrolledbythethicknessofthedisc.Althoughitispossibleto
produceasmuchas56MHzofelectronictuninginaXbandDRwithanunloaded
Qgreaterthan1000,7,10thismethodisparticularlycumbersometoimplement.
Furthermore,severeproblemscanarisewhenthesetwotechniquesareusedin
applicationsthataresusceptibletoprolongedperiodsofintensevibration.

Figure4showsthethirdtechniqueforcouplingavaractordiodetotheresonator.
Basically,theconfigurationconsistsoftwosemicircular
annularconductivetracksloadedwithapairofvaractordiodes.Theresonatoris
mounteddirectlyabovethetuningcircuitandissupportedbyalowlossspacer.In
thisarrangement,thetuningconfigurationcanberealizedonthemicrostripsubstrate
andthemagneticcouplingbetweentheDRandtuningcircuitcanbeadjustedby
alteringtheheightHofthespacerthatissupportingtheresonator.Theverynatureof
thestructureindicatesthattheconfigurationperformswellundervibration.This
techniquecanprovideatuningrangeof44MHzatSbandwhilemaintainingahigh
unloadedQabove1000.11Additionally,theconfigurationissimpletoconstructand
lendsitselftoaninexpensiveandreproduciblemanufacturingprocess.

Anunusualtechniqueknownasinvasivetuninghasalso
beenemployed.12Here,theterminvasivereferstothefactthatthetuning
mechanismisincorporatedwithinthebodyoftheDR,asshowninFigure5.The
varactordiodeisplacedinsidetheslotthathasbeencutoutoftheDR.Thepurpose
ofthemetallizedsidesoftheslotistoensurethattheperturbedfieldappears
uniformlyatthesidesoftheslot.Thisfieldthenisdisplacedbythevaractororother
conductingdeviceacrosstheslot.Variationoftheslotcapacitanceperturbsthe
electromagneticfieldassociatedwiththeDRand,hence,affectsitsresonant
frequency.Theconfigurationcanprovideaverylargetuningbandwidthof
approximately150MHzat5GHzwithaninsertionlossvariationofonly2dB.This
tuningbandwidthexceedsanytuningmethodreportedtodatewiththeexceptionof
ferritetuning.However,itsloadedQfactorhasvariedfrom160to500acrossthe
tuningrange.

InaDROtunedusingPINdiodes,13thetuningelementconsistsofaconductingdiscdividedintofour
segmentsinterconnectedbyPINdiodesandplacedatadistancedabovetheDR,asshowninFigure6.
Dependingupontheconductingstateofthediodes,thecurrentflowlinesinducedinthediscbytheelectrical
fieldoftheTE01dmodemayormaynotbecut.Perturbationresultsyieldingajumpinfrequencyof

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approximately40MHzatacenterfrequencyof16GHzhavebeenreported.No
variationinthevalueoftheunloadedQduetothistuningsystemhasbeengiven.

Opticaltuningofmicrowavedevices,ingeneral,andDRs,inparticular,ishighly
desirablemainlyforitshightuningspeed.Interestinsuchatuningmethodwas
arousedbytheadventofnewelectroopticdevicessuchasdiodelasersandoptic
switches.AstraightforwardwaytotunetheDRopticallyistosensitizeittolight.
Thissensitizationcanbeaccomplishedeitherby,forexample,simplyaddinga
photosensitivematerialontopoftheDRorspatteringaverythinlayerof
photoconductormaterials.Basically,therearetwotypesofphotoconductor
materials:semiconductor(Si,Ge,PbSandInSb)withrelativelyhighdarkcurrent
andsmallresponsetime(10ms)andinsulator(CdS,CdSeandTl2S)withlowdark
currentbutrelativelylongresponsetime(1ms).14Hence,illuminationofthephotosensitivematerial
producesachangeinconductivity,which,inturn,perturbsthefieldaroundtheDRandleadstoashiftofthe
resonantfrequency.Inthiscase,anappreciableopeningmustbemadeinthehousingforgoodcoupling
betweenthelightsourceandthesensitizer,renderingthedevicevulnerabletoexternalinfluences.

OpticaltuningofDRshasbeenreportedpreviously.15,16Thetuningwasachievedbychangingthe
conductivityofalayerofaphotosensitivematerialdepositedonthetopsurfaceof
theDRbymeansoflightfromalaserorlightemittingdiode(LED),asshownin
Figure7.Usingthistechnique,thedevicewasdeterminedtobeopticallytunableup
to15MHzatXband.15,16However,amajordisadvantageofthismethodisthatthe
externalQofthecircuitdegradesbyapproximately30percent.Moreover,light
sourcesemployedforfastmodulation,suchasanHeNegaslaserorGaAsLED,
produceasmallfrequencychange(typically0.4to0.5MHzat10GHz).A
comparisonofthevarioustuningmechanismsislistedinTable1.

TableI
TuningRangesofVariousMechanisms

TuningMechanism TuningRange(%)

Ferrite 3.125at8.0GHz

0.028at14.0GHz
0.75at7.4GHz
VaractorDiode
1.36at3.3GHz
3at5.0GHz

PinDiode 0.25at16.0GHz

Optical 0.14at10.2GHz

Applications

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Asmaybeexpected,DRstunedwithsemiconductordevices(inparticular,varactordiodes)haveintrinsic
power/intermodulationlimitations.Therefore,varactortunedDRsaremostsuitableforlowerpower
operations(lessthan100mW).SomeoftheapplicationsincludeVCOs(varactortunedDRsarecurrently
usedextensivelyinVCOsinmanycommunicationsystems)andfilters(DRsareusedaselementsofafilter
wherehighdiscriminationandfinetunabilityarerequired,forexample,insatellitecommunicationsfront
endfilters/preselectors).Inaddition,varactortunedDRsareusedasdevicesforfrequencymodulation,as
elementsforfrequencyhoppinginspreadspectrumtechniques(forexample,inairborneandspaceborne
communication,radarsetsandshiptoshorecommunications)andasdevicesfordatascrambling(suchasin
satelliteTVbroadcasting).

Conclusion

Acarefulcomparativestudyofthenumeroustuningtechniquesavailablehasshownthatthevaractordiode
currentlyisthemostsuitabletuningmechanismforlowpowerrequirementssinceifofferslowlossandhigh
tuningspeed.Furthermore,varactorsalsooffercontinuousfrequencycontrolandpotentialadvantagesin
size,weightandcost.Themainadvantageofemployingaresonantloopstructureusingvaractordiodes
constructeddirectlyontoamicrostripsubstrateistheeasewithwhichthecoupledresonatorcanbetuned
throughaplanarnetwork.ThistypeoftuningconfigurationgreatlysimplifiestheimplementationofDRsin
highvolumeproductioncircuitsbyeliminatingtheneedforacomplexmechanicaltuningstructure.

References

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