Tunable capacitors can be used to facilitate the reduction of components in wireless technologies. The tunability of the capacitors is caused by the sensitivity of the relative
dielectric constant to a change in polarization with electric field.
Thin film ferroelectric MIM capacitors on silicon offer a re-use of electronic circuitry, low tuning voltages, a high capacitance density, a low cost, a presence of bulk acoustic wave resonance(s) and decoupling functionality. The basic operation and measurement principles are outlined. To assess the performance in the microwave frequency range, MIM test structures1, with a barium strontium titanate dielectric, have been successfully
processed, and measured. The electrical characterization of
tunable capacitors is demonstrated using a 1-Port Advantest
R3767CG VNA in the frequency range of 10 MHz – 8 GHz