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Home 〉 Blog 〉 The Quality Factor of Microstrip-Line Resonators

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The Quality Factor of Microstrip-
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What Are Through- The quality factor describes the ability of a resonator to store energy.
Silicon Vias?
The quality factor is the ratio of stored energy to the energy lost in a
3D packages use resonator circuit.
through-silicon vias
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made from copper › The quality factor of an unloaded resonator is called the unloaded quality
t t factor. The quality factor of a loaded resonator is called the loaded quality
↑ factor.

In microwave circuits, resonators are used for frequency selection

The frequency selectivity property of resonators can be applied in amplifiers,
filters, and oscillators. In particular, microstrip-line resonators are extensively used
in microwave circuits, as they provide miniaturization. Microstrip-line resonators
are either open-ended or short-circuited and are characterized by the “quality
factor”—a parameter that describes the ability of the resonator to store energy.
The quality factor of microstrip-line resonators is high, and this is the advantage
of using them in miniaturized amplifiers or filters with narrow-band frequency
specifications.

The Quality Factor of a Microstrip-Line Resonator

A resonator circuit realized using microstrip transmission lines can be modeled
with the distributed line elements capacitance, inductance, resistance, and shunt
conductance.
A resonator circuit stores electromagnetic energy in it; electric energy is stored in
capacitors and magnetic energy is stored in inductors. The energy losses in the
resonator circuit are represented by the resistance. At the resonant frequency,
the electric energy in the capacitor equals the magnetic energy stored in the
inductors. At resonant conditions, microstrip-line resonators o er purely resistive
input impedance.
The quality factor (Q-factor) is the ratio of stored energy to the energy lost in the
resonator circuit. It can be generalized as:

Loaded, Unloaded, and External Quality Factors

The fundamental characteristics of a microstrip-line resonator can be determined
from its resonant frequency, coupling coe cient, and unloaded Q-factor. The
microstrip lines used for building resonators are either open-ended, short-
circuited, or connected to other circuits. The Q-factor of a resonator varies with
how and to what circuit the resonator is connected or loaded. The Q-factor of the
resonator can be described as either a loaded Q-factor, unloaded Q-factor, or
external Q-factor.
A microstrip-line resonator can be a half-wavelength line that shares a capacitive
coupling with an input microstrip line or it can be a dielectric resonator that is
inductively coupled to the microstrip line. Any microstrip-line resonator can be
modeled using distributed elements.
Next, we will discuss the Q-factor from the generalized model of the microstrip-
line resonator given below.

A Generalized Model of a Microstrip-Line Resonator

A model of a microstrip-line resonator using the distributed elements

The resonator is modeled using C, L, and G0 and is connected to an external load,
shown as IN, Gex, and Bex. The resonator and load circuit share a common voltage
V. The circuit above is impedance matched.
From port 1-1, the right side circuit forms the resonator and the left side circuit is
the external load. The Q-factor of an unloaded resonator is called the unloaded Q-
factor Q0. Considering only the resonator circuit, the resonant frequency can be
given by:

and the unloaded Q-factor can be given by:

[Link]
G0=1/R0is the conductance, which represents the energy dissipated in the
resonator. Conductor losses, dielectric losses, and radiation losses are the ways
in which energy is dissipated in the microstrip resonator.
When the external circuit is connected to the resonator, the resonator is
considered loaded. In this loaded condition, the Q-factor of the resonator is
influenced by external circuit elements. The Q-factor of the resonator in this
loaded condition is called the loaded Q-factor, which is di erent from the
unloaded Q-factor. The resonant frequency of the resonator also varies slightly
with loading. The loaded Q-factor QL can be given by the following equation:

Qex is the external Q-factor:

The Coupling Coe cient and the Q-factor

The quality factor of a microstrip-line resonator is dependent on the coupling
coe cient, k. The loaded and unloaded Q-factors share a relationship with the
coupling coe cient as follows:

We have seen that the resonator and external circuit share common voltage, V, so
applying the voltage-resistance relationship to power, the coupling coe cient can
be written as:

Based on the power dissipated in the external circuit and resonator, and
depending on the values of Q0 and Qex, we can say that there are di erent types
of coupling in microstrip-line resonators.
Coupling Coefficient, k The Relationship The Type of Coupling

k=1 Q0=Qex Critical coupling

k>1 Q0<Qex Under critical coupling

k<1 Q0>Qex Overcritical coupling

The type of coupling based on Q-factor values

Designing a microstrip-line resonator with a high Q-factor is essential for
increasing the performance of the filters and oscillators using them. Luckily,
Cadence’s software can help in the design of microstrip-line resonators with a
high quality factor.
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