Engineers designing for medical imaging and high-frequency applications need components that ensure minimal power loss, high signal integrity, and zero magnetic interference.

Knowles’ new FM2 range of Non-Magnetic X7R Low Loss Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors (MLCCs) is engineered to deliver superior RF efficiency and uncompromised reliability. These MLCCs provide lower equivalent series resistance (ESR)/higher Q factor compared to standard X7R capacitors, making them ideal for MRI systems and low-noise amplifier (LNA) applications. 

As engineers embed receivers for Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), like GPS and Galileo, into systems ranging from autonomous vehicles to precision agriculture, the RF environment is becoming more crowded, and it’s more difficult to maintain signal integrity.  

Inductors are a fundamental component in electronic circuits, but not all inductors perform equally across different frequency ranges. At high frequencies, standard power inductors suffer from increased losses, reduced efficiency, and undesirable parasitic effects. RF inductors, specifically designed for radio frequency and microwave applications, address these challenges by minimizing resistive losses, optimizing self-resonant frequency, and maintaining signal integrity.

Here, we examine the distinguishing characteristics of RF inductors, highlighting how they differ from other inductor types and why they are essential in high-frequency applications.

By utilizing stacked configurations and advanced dielectric materials, capacitor assemblies optimize performance in power conversion and radio frequency (RF) signal management. These assemblies are designed to meet the demands of power electronics and radio frequency applications, where stability, efficiency, and compact design are important design considerations. 

Capacitors and inductors are two closely related components that frequently work together in RF circuit design. While both store energy, they do so in distinct ways. Capacitors store energy in an electric field and help regulate voltage changes, whereas inductors store energy in a magnetic field and resist changes in current.  

X2Y^® technology, which was originally developed by X2Y Attenuators, LLC, is based on a proprietary electrode arrangement embedded in passive components that can be manufactured using a variety of dielectrics. Using this innovative technology, Knowles Precision Devices manufactures high-performance multi-layer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) that we then use to create a variety of off-the-shelf and custom bypass and noise decoupling capacitors and electromagnetic interference (EMI) filters. Let’s look at how building these components with X2Y is different than using a traditional ceramic MLCC and the resulting benefits.

In complex radio frequency (RF) applications, “wideband” has varying definitions depending on both the application of interest and the portion of the RF circuit you’re focused on. Wideband can be used to describe the entire spectrum shown in Figure 1 or large portions of it.   

Considering the complexities of routing and signal integrity, it’s more and more common to see multilayer printed circuit board (PCB) designs where radio frequencies (RF) or digital traces cross on different layers of the stack. However, depending on the number of crossovers needed, the cost and complexity of this solution can outweigh the potential design benefits. For example, at high frequencies, multilayer designs are uniquely expensive to build; when laying out a ‘tile’ phased array, there’s very little space for components because of the λ/2 pitch of the array.  

At the most basic level, high-power amplifiers (HPAs) take signals from the waveform generator and increase the signal level to a higher power as shown in Figure 1. Depending on the system, the increase could take the signal from hundreds of watts to many megawatts. This is an essential step for many radar systems to boost the strength of a signal and improve range, resolution, and overall performance. 

As power conversion systems evolve to leverage higher voltages and wide bandgap semiconductors like silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN), system designers face new challenges in managing the electromagnetic interference (EMI) frequency landscape. Here’s how EMI filters play an important role in ensuring safe operation at higher voltages.