A novel wideband bandpass filter with improved stopband characteristics is presented in this paper. Dual-mode square ring resonator is used in the proposed filter. New formulas based on the even- and odd-mode analysis are derived to facilitate the design of transmission zeros of the square ring resonator. A short-circuited stub and a piece of aperture-enhanced parallel-coupled lines are introduced to the input and output of the resonator to lower the passband return loss and widen the stopband of the filter significantly. The filter has a 50% fractional bandwidth, is compact in configuration, and shows remarkably improved performance compared with previously reported filters of the same kind. The measured filtering response shows a good agreement with the simulated result.

A calculation method by the improved three-fluid model is shown to describe phenomenologically temperature and frequency dependence of surface resistance Rs for high-Tc superconductors. It is verified that this model is useful to describe temperature dependence of Rs for such high-Tc superconducting films as Y-Ba-Cu-O (YBCO), Eu-Ba-Cu-O, and Tl-Ba-Ca-Cu-O films. For the frequency dependence of Rs of a YBCO bulk, furthermore, the measured results which have not depended on f2 in the frequency range 10-25 GHz, can be described successfully by this model. Finally, a figure of merit is proposed to evaluate material quality for high-Tc superconductors from the values of electron densities and momentum relaxation time determined by the present model.

The present state of IEC and JIS standards is reviewed on measurement methods of low-loss dielectric and high-tempera-ture superconductor (HTS) materials in the microwave and millimeter wave range. Four resonance methods are discussed actually, that is, a two-dielectric resonator method for dielectric rod measurements, a two-sapphire resonator method for HTS film measurements, a cavity resonator method for microwave measurements of dielectric plates and a cutoff circular waveguide method for millimeter wave measurements of dielectric plates. These methods realize the high accuracy sufficient for measurements of temperature dependence of material properties.

The unloaded Q,Qu of the TE01 mode for a dielectric rod resonator encased within a cavity is accurately computed for dielectric constant of 24 at 11.9 GHz. Qu105 is obtained for loss tangent tan =0. HighQ resonators having Qu23,000 are realized using new BMT ceramics (tan4.2105).

The dielectric resonator method is now widely accepted as a precise measurement method for determining the dielectric properties at microwave frequencies. This paper describes the measurement results of εr, tan δ and TCf determined by a round robin test of this method. The resultant measurement errors were Δεr/εr0.10%, Δtan δ0.5105 and ΔTCf0.5 ppm/K, where Δdenotes a standard deviation. The causes of measurement errors and the conditions to improve the measurement accuracy are discussed.

Precise designs are presented for sapphire rod resonators of three types, which have been proposed by the IEC/TC90/WG8 in the standard measurement method of the surface resistance Rs of high-Tc superconductor (HTS) films; an open-type, a cavity-type and a closed-type. In order to separate TE011 and TE013 modes, which are used in Rs measurements, from the other modes, appropriate dimensions for these three resonators are determined from mode charts calculated from a rigorous analysis based on the mode matching method, taking account of an uniaxial-anisotropic characteristic of sapphire. Comparison of the open-type resonator with the closed-type is performed. For the open-type, the unloaded Q values of both the TE011 and TE013 modes are reduced by radiations of a leaky state TM310 mode. Finally, validity of the design and a two-sapphire-rod-resonator method will be verified by experiments.

A rigorous analysis for a TM010 mode cylindrical cavity with insertion holes is presented on the basis of the Ritz-Galerkin method to realize accurate measurements of the complex permittivity of liquid. The effects of sample insertion holes, a dielectric tube, and air-gaps between a dielectric tube and sample insertion holes are taken into account in this analysis. The validity of this method is verified from measured results of some kinds of liquid.

A general circuit model of a filter having one cross coupling path is analyzed, and a new theory is developed for the design of a filter with transmission zeros in its stopband. By using the derived formulas, the reactance element values in the cross coupling path are determined readily. The transmission zeros can thus be assigned at desired frequencies. Various design examples are provided, together with simulated results, which validate the proposed theory.

A coaxial cable measurement system applicable up to 60 GHz in the cryogenic temperature is developed by using V-connectors. In this system, the fine location of coupling loop antennas can be adjusted by three-dimensional mechanical stages in the low temperature region. In order to verify usefulness of this system, the temperature dependence of surface resistance (Rs) of Y-Ba-Cu-O (YBCO) films was measured at 30 GHz by the two-dielectric resonator method using TE011- and TE013- mode sapphire rod resonators. The measured result of Rs was 0.5 mΩ at 30 GHz and 20 K, which was 1/40, compared with those of copper plates.

In order to explain the temperature and frequency characteristics of high-Tc superconductors, a new model is proposed, which will be called the improved three-fluid model, where the momentum relaxation time τ is assumed to depend on temperature in the superconducting and normal states, respectively, although τ has been assumed to be independent of temperature for the conventional three-fluid model. According to this model, the complex conductivity σ1jσ2 and the surface impedance ZsRsjXs, where Rs is the surface resistance and Xs is the surface reactance, are expressed as a function of temperature. The temperature dependences of Zs and for a YBCO bulk estimated using this model agree very well with ones measured by the dielectric-loaded cavity method in room to cryogenic temperature. In particular, a peak of σ1 observed just below the critical temperature Tc in experiments, appeared in the calculated results based on this model. This phenomenon has been already known in the BCS theory. Thus, it is verified that this model is useful to explain the microwave characteristics of high-Tc superconductors in room to cryogenic temperature. On the other hand, the residual normal electron density nres4.2541023 m-3 and the total electron density nt7.3081024 m-3 are obtained by calculation. The ratio nres/nt0.058 can be used as figure of merit to evaluate material quality of high-Tc superconductors; thus it means that there is 5.8% nonpairing electron in this YBCO bulk.

A 5-pole lumped element bandpass filter (BPF) of center frequency 264.05 MHz and fractional bandwidth (FBW) 0.76% is designed and fabricated using YBa2Cu3O7-d (YBCO) thin films deposited on both sides of a MgO substrate(40 mm 40 mm 0.5 mm). The return loss, minimum insertion loss and ripple were measured to be 20.0 dB, less than 0.1 dB and less than 0.1 dB at 70 K, respectively. These results verify both the compactness and low loss characteristics in the VHF band. The simulated frequency response, where the frequency dependences of inductance (L) and capacitance (C) elements and housing effect are taken into account, is in good agreement with the measured frequency response.

We studied the possibility of making an objective diagnosis of dementia based on radiological findings by evaluating cerebral and hippocampal atrophy and the corpus callosum shape on MRI images in patients with Alzheimer-type dementia, compared with healthy elderly individuals. There was a statistically significant difference in the hippocampus area index, the ventricle area index, and the area ratio for the second, forth, and fifth parts of corpus callosum. Discriminant analysis using these three parameters demonstrated the sensitivity of 88.5% and the specificity of 85.7%, suggesting a highly positive diagnostic rate. These results indicate that quantitative MRI measurements could be used for differentiating Alzheimer-type dementia from similar diseases.

Two type measurement methods of the unloaded Q-factor of a microwave resonator, the insertion loss method and the return loss method, are reexamined theoretically and compared experimentally. An error formula is derived to estimate the errors between the unloaded Q-factors measured by the two different methods. Measured results of a stripline resonator verified well the derived formula, and proved that the return loss method is more accurate and reliable than the traditional insertion loss method.

Novel microstrip lowpass filters are developed with reduced size and significantly improved stopband characteristics. After introducing quarter-wavelength open stubs, we get one or two transmission zeros in the stopband. By folding the high impedance microstrip lines, we reduce the size of the filter. Three-pole and five-pole lowpass filters are designed, and their measured frequency responses agree well with theoretical predictions.

A new structure of a low-loss high temperature superconducting (HTS) filter is proposed by using quarter-wavelength coplanar waveguide (CPW) resonators. A 4-pole Chebyshev band-pass filter with the center frequency 5.0 GHz and the 0.01 dB-ripple fractional bandwidth 3.2% is designed based on the theory of direct-coupled resonator filters using K- and J-inverters. This filter is fabricated by using a high-Tc superconductive YBCO film deposited on a MgO dielectric substrate. The frequency response of the filter measured at 60 K agrees very well with the theoretical one. The insertion loss is 0.22 dB. The insertion loss of this filter is the lowest in HTS-CPW filters presented so far.

A Chebyshev type bandpass filter using four TM01δ-mode dielectric rod resonators oriented axially in a high-Tc superconductor cylinder is designed with 3 dB bandwidth 36 MHz at 11.958 GHz. The single resonator which contains a Ba (MgTa) O3 ceramic rod of εγ=24 and a YBa2Cu3Oy bulk cylinder is designed to realize temperature coefficient of f0, τf=0 ppm/K at 20 K. The unloaded Q, Qu measured at 20 K is 150,000 which is higher than Qu=100,000 for a TM01δ-mode resonator with a copper cylinder. When the constructed filter is cooled from room temperature to below 50 K, the center frequency shifted only 5 MHz which corresponds to τf=1.5 ppm/K and the insertion loss IL0 at the center freqency reduced from 3.0 dB to about 0 dB, the designed value of which is 0.04 dB, which is too small to be measured accurately.

Low temperature dependences of complex permittivity for MgO and SrTiO3 substrates are measured accurately and nondestructively by using the TE011 mode of a cylindrical cavity in the microwave region.