Abstract-This paper presents a distributed attenuator with standard SMD chip components. For low frequencies simple Pi and T-networks with chip resistors offer a good flexibility to design low cost attenuators in a microwave circuit. Nevertheless, with increasing frequency the parasitics of the chip resistors as well as the short additional line sections in the Pi and T network cause the design to fail. Here, a model of an 0201 chip resistor has been setup to show the limited operating range of the Pi and T-networks. Using a distributed attenuator design, two resistors separated by a quarter wavelength transmission line, can overcome these problems and extent the frequency range to K-band.
For many applications the knowledge of the dielectric properties of substrates and covers is absolutely necessary. At higher frequencies or for thicker samples many methods can be used. But, for thin dielectric sheets without metallization the characterization becomes complicate. The new approach presented here makes used of the low capacitance of a very simple set-up. This capacitance is the coupling element between two resonators with slightly different resonance frequencies. These coupled resonators are very sensitive to small changes of the capacitance value which is proportional to the dielectric constant of the investigated material.
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