Creating screen-printed passive components for microwave applications

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to share valuable information about low-cost microwave circuit research with academic and industrial communities that work, or want to work, in this field. Design/methodology/approach - Screen-printing technology has been chosen as the fabrication method because of simplicity and low costs. Different materials and printing parameters were tested in four generations of microstrip lines. After obtaining a satisfactory fabrication method, passive microwave components were printed, assembled, characterized and modeled. Findings Results demonstrated that the proposed low-cost method allows fabricating low loss microstrip lines (15.63 x 10(-3) dB/mm at 10 GHz), filters, inductors, and capacitors that work well up to 12 GHz. Research limitations/implications - Model accuracy of inductors and capacitors can be improved. The use of more precise calibration and de-embedding techniques is necessary. More components can be fabricated and modeled to increase the flexibility and applicability of the proposed fabrication method. Practical implications - The presented information can help limited budget companies and small educational institutions in electronics to fabricate microwave circuits at low costs. This is an excellent approach for students who want to learn how to make microwave frequency measurements and circuits without the need of expensive fabrication equipment and clean rooms. Originality/value - The step-by-step fabrication method described in this paper allows fabricating different microwave components at low costs. The presentation of electrical models for each component completes the design-fabrication cycle. As this information is gathered in a single source, it makes easier the incursion of new actors in the microwave field.