Ultra-Low Insertion Loss Stepped Impedance Resonator Topology for HTSC RF Front-End

TL;DR

This paper reports the design and measurement of a high-temperature superconductor (HTSC) band-pass filter with ultra-low insertion loss, demonstrating its potential for improved cryogenic RF front-ends in radar and communication systems.

Contribution

It introduces a novel 11-pole YBCO-based stepped impedance resonator filter with record-low insertion loss for S-band applications and integrates it into a cryogenic receiver system.

Findings

Achieved an ultra-low insertion loss of -0.1 dB in the filter.

Predicted a receiver noise figure of 0.34 dB at 3.39 GHz.

Demonstrated potential 20% increase in radar detection range.

Abstract

We present the design, fabrication, and measurement of a high-temperature superconductor (HTSC) Stepped Impedance Resonator (SIR) band-pass filter for S-band applications, and its incorporation into a cryogenic receiver cascade. The 11-pole filter, implemented in YBa2Cu3O(7-x) (YBCO) thin films on sapphire, exhibits an ultra-low insertion loss (IL) of -0.1~dB, a sharp roll-off of 100~MHz, and a rejection level exceeding --80~dB. These measured results represent, to the best of our knowledge, the lowest reported IL for an S-band filter with this number of poles. When integrated with a cryogenic low-noise amplifier (LNA), system-level simulations and measurements predict a receiver noise figure (NF) of 0.34~dB at 3.39~GHz, enabling a 20% increase in radar detection range compared with conventional copper-based front ends. This work demonstrates the feasibility of practical HTSC-based RF front-ends for next-generation communication and radar systems.