ELEC344, Kevin Chen, HKUST 1

Lect. 18: Microwave Resonators

Various applications: including filters, oscillators, frequency
meters, and tuned amplifiers, etc.
microwave resonators of all types can be modeled in terms of
equivalent RLC resonators (either in series or in parallel).
1. Series Resonant Circuit
C
j L j R Z
in

1
+
ELEC344, Kevin Chen, HKUST 2
The complex power delivered to the resonator is
)
1
(
2
1
2
1
2
1 2 2
*
C
j L j R I I Z VI P
in in

+
R: dissipate power
R I P
loss
2
2
1

L: store magnetic energy

L I W
m
2
4
1

C: store electric energy

C
I C V W
C e 2
2 2 1
4
1
4
1

) ( 2
e m loss in
W W j P P +
So, we have
ELEC344, Kevin Chen, HKUST 3
Then Z
in
can be written as
At resonance, W
m
= W
e
, then we have
2
) ( 2 2
2 2
I
W W j P
I
P
Z
e m loss in
in
+


R
I
P
Z
loss
in

2
2
LC
1
0

and
Where
0
is the
resonant frequency.
ELEC344, Kevin Chen, HKUST 4
Quality factor: Q
loss
e m
P
W W
Q
+

d) loss/secon (energy
stored) energy (average
Lower loss implies higher Q.
For the series resonant circuit
and at resonance
RC R
L
P
W
Q
loss
m
0
0
0
1 2

Q increases as R decreases.
When =
o
+ and
Q =
R
L
0

) 2 1 ( 2
0

+ + Q j R L j R Z
in
ELEC344, Kevin Chen, HKUST 5
2
2 2
2 ) ( R BW jRQ R Z
in
+
Q
BW
1

ELEC344, Kevin Chen, HKUST 6

2. Parallel Resonant Circuit
1
1 1

,
_

+ + C j
L j R
Z
in

) ( 2
e m loss in
W W j P P +
LC
1
0

RC
L
R
Q
0
0

Q
BW
1

ELEC344, Kevin Chen, HKUST 7

Loaded and Unloaded Q
A resonant circuit
connected to an external
load, R
L
.
Unloaded Q (Q): The resonant circuit
is not connected to any external
circuitry, no loading effect.
Loaded Q (Q
L)
: With an external
load, R
L
which will always lower the
overall Q,.
Q Q Q
e L
1 1 1
+

'

L
R
R
L
Q
L
L
e
0
0

for series circuits

for parallel circuits
where
ELEC344, Kevin Chen, HKUST 8
Transmission Line Resonators
At microwave frequencies, distributed elements, such as
transmission lines are more commonly used as the resonators.
Short-Circuited /2 Line
l l j
l j l
Z
l j Z Z
in



tanh tan 1
tan tanh

) tanh(
0
0
+
+

+
Under the assumption of
small loss and l = /2.
) (
0
0

+ j l Z Z
in
l = n/2
ELEC344, Kevin Chen, HKUST 9
+ L j R Z
in
2
Compare with the expression for
the series resonator circuit
We have
The equivalent
capacitance is
At resonance, l = n/2 (n=1, 2, ) l Z R Z
in

0

2 2
0

l R
L
Q
See Example 6.1 for practice
l Z R
0

0
0
2
Z
L

0 0
2
0
2 1
Z L
C
Only true for TEM
or quasi-TEM lines!
ELEC344, Kevin Chen, HKUST 10
Short-Circuited /4 Line
0
0
2 / +

j l
Z
Z
in
Under the assumption of small loss and l = /4.
Compare with the expression for
the parallel resonator circuit ( ) C j R
Z
in
+

2 / 1
1
We have
l
Z
R

0
0
2
0
4 1

Z
C
L
0 0
4 Z
C

2 4
0

l L
R
Q
ELEC344, Kevin Chen, HKUST 11
Open-Circuited /2 Line
) / (
0
0
+

j l
Z
Z
in
Under the assumption of small loss and l = /2.
Compare with the expression for
the parallel resonator circuit ( ) C j R
Z
in
+

2 / 1
1
We have
l
Z
R

0
0
2
0
2 1

Z
C
L
0 0
2 Z
C

2 2
0

l L
R
Q