The bedrock of MEMtronics’ filter development utilizes substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) technology. SIW has been known for over 20 years and is a proven platform for building filters. SIW technology blends the excellent performance of waveguide transmission media that can be integrated into a single, monolithic circuit like microstrip or stripline but with better performance. MEMtronics SIW provides the best possible performance in the smallest possible volume.
In SIW, the circuit substrate is modified so that the substrate forms the top, bottom, and sidewalls necessary to create a dielectrically loaded waveguide cavity. This waveguide, embedded into the substrate, allows propagation of RF energy in the TE10 mode. In this manner, energy moves through the buried substrate waveguide.
Features are added to the substrate in the form of metal vias to create cavities which form the filter resonators. The width and length of the cavities determine the waveguide cutoff frequency and the resonant frequency of the waveguide cavities. Gaps in the vias control the amount of RF energy which traverses from cavity to cavity, setting the resonator coupling. Together, the resonant frequency of the filter cavities and the coupling between cavities can be adjusted to create a frequency filter function.
By the proper choice of substrate materials and metallization, very high performance and/or very small filter sizes can be created. MEMtronics utilizes these materials to create families of microwave and millimeter-wave filters with high performance and/or ultraminiature sizes to meet a variety of customer needs in the defense, space, and communications arenas.
Let MEMtronics quote an SIW filter to meet your requirements, contact us at info@memtronics.com for more information.