Microwave and Microstructural Properties of Ba₀.₅Sr₀.₅TiO₃ of Thin Film Coplanar Phase Shifters

Coplanar waveguide transmission lines have been used to show that the temperature dependent properties of Ba0.5Sr0.5TiO3 thin films used for microwave phase shifters in the frequency range 45 MHz-50 GHz are correlated strongly with the microstructure of the films. The highest tunability and figure of merit of the phase shifters were obtained for films with the narrowest ferroelectric-paraelectric phase transition range, lowest mosaic spread, and widest columnar microstructure. The study also showed that the operating temperature plays an important role in achieving the optimum phase shift for microwave applications. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.