Design of tunable balanced amplifier using ferroelectric materials

The incorporation of ferroelectric thin films into microstrip structures can be used to create electronically tunable microwave circuits. Tunable components have traditionally been developed using resonant mechanical structures, ferrite components, or voltage controlled electronics devices, but they are limited by their frequency performance, high cost, high losses, and difficult integration into larger systems. In contrast, components developed with ferroelectric materials can easily be integrated in microstrip circuits and have small size, light weight, low power consumption, and low loss. These characteristics make ferroelectric tunable components attractive for broadband and multi-frequency applications.; In this work, a tunable balanced amplifier is designed and simulated for K-band frequencies. The amplifier is implemented with microstrip components that incorporate ferroelectric thin films. The designed balanced amplifier includes the characterization and simulation of matching networks and quadrature hybrid couplers with ferroelectric films. The response of the components is obtained from an electromagnetic simulator and is used to show the tunability of the amplifier.