Dielectric material and waveguide development for low temperature co-fired ceramics

New dielectric materials and structures will be required for multifunctional low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) packages. High dielectric constant materials are useful for integrated capacitors with high volumetric efficiency and in this study two candidate materials were developed for LTCC applications. Bi-based pyrochlores have dielectric constants between 40 and 150. AgNbO₃-AgTaO₃ solid solutions were synthesized and co-fired with silver and have dielectric constant values of 400. Both of these dielectric materials have Q-values that are sufficient for microwave microstrip and stripine applications. In addition, new transmission line structures are of interest for low loss mm-wave applications. Non-radiative dielectric (NRD) waveguide structures were modeled, fabricated, and characterized. NRD resonant structures were explored for dielectric characterization and as band pass filters.