Design and development of ferroelectric tunable microwave components for Ku- and K-band satellite communication systems

Integration of a high-temperature superconductor with a nonlinear dielectric ferroelectric such as strontium titanate, i.e., SrTiO3 (STO), has created a new class of electrically tunable low-loss microwave components. We have designed and fabricated frequency and phase agile components using a conductor/ferroelectric/dielectric two-layered microstrip configuration. Some examples of these components are: microstrip ring resonators, local oscillators, edge coupled filters, and phase-shifter circuits. These structures have been fabricated using YBa2Cu3O7-delta or gold conductor-based microstrip lines fabricated on lanthanum aluminate (LaAlO3) or magnesium oxide (MgO) substrates coated with an STO thin film. Frequency and phase agility are achieved using the nonlinear de electric-field dependence of the relative dielectric constant of STO ferroelectric thin film (is an element of(rSTO)) In this paper, we will present an assessment of the progress that our group has achieved thus far toward integration of this technology into wireless and satellite communication systems.