Ultra-wideband bandpass filter using multilayer liquid-crystal-polymer technology

Novel ultra-wideband (UWB) bandpass filters are proposed based on quasi-lumped-element prototypes and implemented with multilayer liquid-crystal-polymer (LCP) technology. In this study, the broadside-coupled microstrip radial stubs and high-impedance microstrip lines are adopted as quasi-lumped elements for realizing compact UWB bandpass filters. By introducing a short-circuited high-impedance microstrip line as a shunt inductor and suitably designing quasi-lumped-element capacitors, a compact six-pole bandpass filter is implemented with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) defined UWB specifications. To further improve the selectivity and wideband performance, an eight-pole filter of this type is developed by adding two shunt short-circuited microstrip stubs, which introduce a transmission zero at the upper passband edge. The proposed filters are fabricated using multilayer LCP technology. Good agreement between simulated and measured results of these filters are observed. The measured results show that the fabricated six-pole filter has good specifications for the FCC-defined UWB system. The fabricated eight-pole filter has an ultra-wide fractional bandwidth (139%) and a good stopband rejection level, which is higher than 38.1 dB from 10.57 to 18.0 GHz. The proposed filters are attractive for UWB communications and radar systems. © 2008 IEEE.