Material adaptation and optimisation of passive Ka-band multilayer circuit designs using an efficient modular design strategy

A modular method for the efficient and flexible design of multilayer microwave modules is investigated. In order to minimise the computational efforts for the layout and optimisation process of passive microwave circuitry, a module data base and a decomposition and cascading strategy are put forward. To verify the efficiency of this approach in the context of a demanding application, low temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCC) structures developed for one specific substrate material have been adapted to another substrate material and subsequently optimised for operation in the Ka-band frequency range. The promising results encourage further investigations, to exploit the potential of this technique for future microwave design issues.