Characterization of Transmission Lines with Nonlinear Dielectric Materials

Published

November 28, 2017

Author(s)

Aaron M. Hagerstrom, Christian J. Long, Nathan D. Orloff, James C. Booth, Eric J. Marksz

Abstract

Nonlinear transmission lines are interesting for two broad reasons: first, they have several direct device applications (i.e. harmonic generation, and phase shifters), and second, they provide a way to characterize nonlinear materials at mm-wave frequencies. In either case, circuit modeling is challenging because nonlinear waveguides are described by a nonlinear wave equation. In this paper, we focus on characterizing the nonlinear mixing products generated by coplanar waveguides on a strongly nonlinear ferroelectric Ba0:5Sr0:5TiO3 (BST) film. We develop a perturbative solution to the nonlinear wave equation, and validate our model by using a nonlinear vector network analyzer (NVNA) measure the nonlinear mixing products. Our approach is useful for predicting spurious signals generated by nonlinear mixing in devices with nonlinear dielectrics, and predicting the performance of nonlinear devices like harmonic generators.

Conference Dates

November 28-December 1, 2017

Conference Location

Boulder, CO

Conference Title

90th ARFTG Microwave Measurement Conference

Pub Type

Conferences

Download Paper

Local Download

Keywords

Terms—Materials characterization, nonlinear vector network analysis, On-wafer metrology, tunable dielectrics

Citation

Hagerstrom, A. , Long, C. , Orloff, N. , Booth, J. and Marksz, E. (2017), Characterization of Transmission Lines with Nonlinear Dielectric Materials, 90th ARFTG Microwave Measurement Conference, Boulder, CO, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=924675 (Accessed October 22, 2025)