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 complex dielectric image Green's function for metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) technology is proposed in this paper through dielectric image method. Then the Epsilon algorithm for Pade approximation is used to accelerate the convergence of the infinite series summation resulted from the complex dielectric image Green's function. Because of the complex dielectric permittivity of semiconducting substrate, the real and imaginary part of the resulted Green's function is accelerated by Epsilon algorithm, respectively. Combined with the complex dielectric image Green's function, the frequency-dependent capacitance and conductance of the transmission lines and interconnects based on MIS technology are investigated through the method of moments (MoM). The computational results of our method for 2-D and 3-D extraction examples are well agreement with experimental data gained from chip measurement and other methods such as full-wave analysis and FastCap.

In this letter, we present the new type parallel-coupled band-pass filter (BPF) which uses the dielectric guide in coupled sections with finite metallization thickness. A mode-matching method has been used to analyze this new structure and the simulation results are shown and validated through comparison with other available data. The results in this letter show that the dielectric guide of coupled lines with finite metal strips can be newly added to the design parameters of the parallel-coupled BPF structure and other microwave applications.

We prepared HfO2 films by atomic layer deposition (ALD) on three kinds of silicon substrate surfaces (chemical oxide, HF-last surface and thermal oxide), and characterized their morphologies, structures, compositions, and crystallinities by physical analysis. The results revealed that the as-deposited HfO2 films consisted of nano-crystalline particles with a different crystalline system from that of the annealed films. The size of the nano-crystalline particles on the film on the chemical oxide was smaller than those on the other surfaces. The reason is thought to be the difference in OH concentration on the substrate surface. The predominant crystalline phases of all HfO2 films were monoclinic after annealing. Moreover, the film prepared on the chemical oxide had the smoothest surface after annealing. However, island structures with grain boundaries developed in the films on the other surfaces.

This letter proposes a millimeter-wave band transformer to connect a standard waveguide to a very thin post-wall waveguide. The post-wall waveguide height is the same as a microstrip or coplanar line. A dielectric substrate with slits etched on both edges is inserted in the standard waveguide for matching. A 22 GHz transformer gives 3.6% bandwidth for a 0.5 mm-height post-wall waveguide. The effects of various mechanical misalignments upon the frequency characteristics of the reflection are also estimated by analysis and measurements.

The process mapping of the ALD process of HfO2 using HfCl4 and H2O is reported. A thickness uniformity better than 3% was achieved over a 300 mm-wafer at a deposition rate of 0.52 Å/cycle. Usually, H2O purge period is set less than 10 sec to obtain reasonable throughput; however, the amounts of residual impurities (Cl, H) found to be in the order of sub%, and these impurities are piled up near the HfO2/Si interface. In order to reduce the piled up impurities, we proposed a 2-step deposition in which purge period for initial 10-20 cycles was set to be 90 sec and that for remaining cycles was usual value of 7.5 sec. The leakage current is reduced to 1/10 by using this 2-step deposition.

The characteristics of HfO2 gate stacks, which consisted of the SiN layer deposited between the HfO2 and poly-Si gate electrode and the SiON interfacial layer were investigated. The SiN layer played important role to reduce the leakage current caused by the defect of the crystallized HfO2. The SiN layer was also effective to achieve the prevention of the interfacial reaction, the suppression of dopant penetration. Furthermore, that stack structure indicated excellent TDDB reliability fabricated by conventional high temperature processes.

We studied nitrogen incorporation in Al2O3 gate dielectrics by nitrogen plasma and examined the dependence of the electrical properties on the nitrogen incorporation. We found that the nitrogen concentration and profile in Al2O3 films thinner than 3 nm can be controlled by the substrate temperature and the plasma conditions. The electrical characterization showed that the plasma nitridation suppresses charges in Al2O3 films and prevents dopant penetration through the gate dielectric without increasing the leakage current or the interfacial trap density. We also demonstrated the improved performance of a metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor by using a plasma nitrided Al2O3 gate dielectric. These results indicate that plasma nitridation is a promising method for improving the electrical properties of Al2O3 gate dielectrics.

An NRD guide transmitter and a receiver were developed for a wireless multi-channel TV-signal distribution system at 60 GHz. The main emphasis was placed on a band-widening technique of the NRD guide beam-lead diode mount based on an electromagnetic field simulator, where each dimension of the beam lead diode mount was optimized. The agreement between the simulation and measurement is quite satisfactory. The up-converter fabricated by assembling a band-pass filter and a Schottky barrier diode mount has a good linearity as well as a flat output power of 2 dBm on the average over a bandwidth of at least 2 GHz. Moreover, the down-converter has a flat conversion loss performance of less than 7 dB in the same bandwidth. An NRD guide transmitter and a receiver characterized by small size and high performance were fabricated and successfully employed for the wireless distribution of TV signals for more than 100 channels.

A conventional waveguide filter is usually composed of a waveguide which is set with irises and posts inside. When dielectric material is not loaded inside the filter, the filter is too large to mount it on a planar circuit even if the frequency band is as high as the millimeter-wave band. In this paper, we propose a dielectric waveguide filter using LTCC (Low-Temperature Co-fired Ceramics) which can be mounted on a planar circuit. The dielectric waveguide filter using LTCC is composed of a dielectric-loaded waveguide including posts (via holes) and TEM-TE10 converters. The design method of the filter is shown and comparison of the simulated and the experimental results in the 6 GHz band is demonstrated. The simulated results agreed well with the experimental ones. To improve the attenuation characteristics, particularly at the above pass-band frequencies, an attenuation pole is added using a cross patch set inside the LTCC filter in the 25 GHz band. The effect of the cross patch is confirmed using the same simulation method as used for the 6 GHz band. As a result, it is confirmed that the cross patch is very useful for improving the attenuation characteristics at the above pass-band frequencies.

Genetic algorithm (GA) is a widely used numerical technique to simplify some analytical solutions in electromagnetic theory. Genetic algorithms can be combined with the geometric optics method to tackle electromagnetic scattering problems. This paper presents an extrapolation procedure, which derived, as a first step, a functional representation of the radar cross section (RCS) of three different dielectric objects that was computed via the Mie solution or the method of moments (MOM). An algorithm was employed to fit the scattering characteristics of dielectric objects at high frequencies.

In this paper, an efficient optimization algorithm for solving the inverse problem of a two-dimensional lossless homogeneous dielectric object is investigated. A lossless homogeneous dielectric cylinder of unknown permittivity scatters the incident wave in free space and the scattered fields are recorded. Based on the boundary condition and the incident field, a set of nonlinear surface integral equation is derived. The imaging problem is reformulated into optimization problem and the steady-state genetic algorithm is employed to reconstruct the shape and the dielectric constant of the object. Numerical results show that the permittivity of the cylinders can be successfully reconstructed even when the permittivity is fairly large. The effect of random noise on imaging reconstruction is also investigated.

26 GHz bandpass filter and duplexer using TM11δ rectangular-mode dielectric cavity resonators are proposed. These have a configuration compact and suitable for mounting on circuit boards. The resonators consisting of the Ba(Mg,Ta)O3 ceramic material showed a high quality factor value of 2600, which is roughly comparable to that of conventional E-plane waveguide filters. The dielectric losses of the ceramic material were experimentally evaluated from the viewpoint of the high frequency operation and the dielectric loss tangent of 7.410-5 was observed at 20 GHz. A three-stage Tchebyscheff bandpass filter with 0.4% relative bandwidth was fabricated and the passband insertion loss was 1.7 dB. A duplexer designed with two TM11δ mode filters and a microstrip T-junction is also presented.

This paper describes a dielectric phase shifter (DPS) using contact-less connector. As the main feature of this structure, an array of difference length strip conductor etched on a dielectric substrate placed on the microstrip patch resonators gives tightly coupling between input and output port. A sliding dielectric substrate provides phase shift for between input and output port. In this paper, the characteristics of DPS are calculated by finite difference time domain (FDTD) method, and are verified by experiments.

Employing a triangular dielectric phase shifter simplifies the beam forming network of an offset beam array antenna because this structure achieves phase control in a single configuration. This paper proposes a design method for a low loss offset beam planar antenna that incorporates a triangular dielectric plate phase shifter on parallel microstrip feedlines. Our design method reduces the loss of the phase shifter by optimizing the microstrip line width. By using the proposed design equation, the optimum low loss phase shifter configuration can be easily established. In addition, this paper presents the actual design of a triangular plate considering size reduction. The results of experiments of the offset beam antenna indicate that our design method is effective in obtaining a simple, low loss, and compact configuration.

Unloaded Q of an image-type dielectric resonator is studied with the simulation and experiment. It is shown that a gap between the dielectric resonator and the shield case reduces both the dielectric loss and conductor loss. The gap moves the electric and magnetic field distributions in the different directions, so that the two losses are reduced. A half-cut image-type resonator with a dielectric spacer inserted into the gap is measured to verify the concept. The unloaded Q is improved by about two times from that without a gap. The proposed structure gives a new packaging method of a dielectric resonator.

A grooved circular cavity is designed for the millimeter wave measurements of dielectric substrates. The grooves are introduced to separate the degenerate TE01p and TM11p modes in circular cavities. A rigorous mode-matching method is used to investigate the influence of grooves on both the TE01p and TM11p modes. The dimensions of the grooves are determined from the numerical results. Comparative experiments of circular cavities with and without grooves validate the design method.

Segmentation of a dielectric resonator enables one to control its spurious property. When a dielectric plate is divided into some planar pieces, the effective permittivity does not change appreciably along the divided plane, while it decreases quite an amount perpendicular to it. This anisotropy is useful for shifting the resonant frequencies of unwanted modes of a dielectric resonator. Since its eigen modes have their own electric field distribution, segmentation of a resonator along the electric line of force of a certain mode will not affect its resonant frequency. When the type of segmentation is changed, we can select the wanted mode, and thus control the resonant frequencies of the unwanted modes. Calculated results with an EM field simulator and experimental results of controlling the resonant frequency are shown for divided dielectric resonators.

The millimeter wave bandpass filter using the Whispering-Gallery mode (WG mode) dielectric disk resonators is presented in this paper. A 4 stage maximally flat bandpass filter is constructed with the PTFE disk resonators. For the filter design, the coupling coefficients of this mode in the coupled disk resonators are calculated by an approximated separation of variables method. Furthermore, the external Q values of the disk resonator excited by a dielectric waveguide are investigated experimentally. Designed center frequency is 60 GHz and 3 dB band width is 150 MHz. Furthermore, as an attempt to improve the spurious characteristics, another filter structure which consists of some kinds of dielectric disk is tested. As a result, some spurious responses are reduced considerably.

A technique for the design of circular- and racetrack-shaped NRD guide ring resonators was developed based on the mode coupling theory. Besides the operating mode, a parasitic mode is generated at curved sections of the resonator as a result of the mode conversion. Resonance of the NRD guide ring resonator is derived by characteristic equations of the coupled modes and then employed in making the design diagrams, which are useful for determining the dimensions of the ring resonators. It is shown that the discrepancy between the experimental results and previous theory can be resolved by using the present theory. Low loss, small-sized ring resonators with curvature radii of less than 5.3 mm were fabricated at 60 GHz and a band rejection performance of more than 30 dB was observed. Moreover, a procedure for the design of the channel dropping filter was developed and a 2-pole filter, which has great advantages such as a low insertion loss of 1.2 dB and a compact size smaller than that of a golf ball, was successfully developed by using two racetrack-shaped ring resonators.