Analysis and Experimental Evaluation of Distributed Overlay Structures in Microwave Integrated Circuits

Distributed microwave integrated circuits have in the past been fabricated by common etch-back techniques on metallized dielectric substrates resulting in simple microstrip transmission line structures for the passive circuitry. This paper discusses examples for the realization of improved circuit functions by overlaying dielectric and metallic films on the simple structure. The present discussion will be restricted to the passive part of hybrid integrated circuits, although analysis and techniques discussed here may also be useful for active devices and monolithics.