1.

RFbehaviourofPassivecomponents
TheoreticallyaccircuitanalysistellsusthatheresistanceR,capacitanceCandinductanceLis
independentoffrequency.Asareminderthevoltageofacapacitorcanbedescribed

Orasaphasor
1

Andforaninductor
3
Sofor1pFcapacitorand1nHinductorat50Hz
|

=3.18*109
2

50 1

3.14 10

Bothnegligible

However,Thewiresandplatesthatconnectthecomponentswillhave
frequencydependentpartsevenprintedcircuittracks.
Nowletsseewhathappenwhenthefrequencyincreases

AtDCthecurrentflowsuniformlydistributedovertheentireconductorcrosssectionalarea.When
thecurrentbecomestimevariantthealternatingchargecarrierflowhasamagneticfieldthat
inducesanelectricfield(Faradaysinductionlaw)whosecurrentdensityopposestheinitialcurrent
flow.Theeffectisstrongestasthecentre,r=0,sotheresistanceisincreased.Theresultisthatas
currentflowmigratestothesurface,andtheradiusofthiseffectintheconductorincreaseswith
frequencytherebyreducingthecurrentflowandincreasethecircuitresistance.Itcanbeshown
thatthecurrentdensityalongthewireaxis,zis

exp

Where
andIisthetotalcurrentflow.Thekeycomponentistheexponent,
knownastheskindepth.
1

Whichdescribesthespatialdropoffincurrentdensityasafunctionoffrequencyf,permittivity
theconductivityatDC.Theexponentialdecreaseofcurrentdensitywithdepthapplies
and
tomostgeometries.Thusshowingtheskindepthdecreaseswithfrequency.Theskinlayer
thicknessisusefulforresistancecomputations,howeverthenormalisedresistance,R,canbe
simplifiertothus

Forfrequenciesabove500Mhz.Noteaistheconductorradius,assumingitisround.Theinternal
(totheconductor)inductanceimpedanceisthus

Theinternalinductanceisduetothemagneticfieldinternaltothewire.Theseequationsarebased
ontheassumptionthat<<aandtherelativepermeabilityoftheconductor
1.Figure
illustratestheskindepthwithfrequencyfordifferentconductors.

Figure1Skindepthbehaviourofcopper,cu=64.5X106S/m,AluminiumAl=40X106S/m,gold
Au=48.5X106S/m,andsoldersolder=6.38X106S/m

Theskindepthhasaphysicalmeaninginthatitdenotesthereductionincurrentdensitytoe1or
37%foitsvalueatthesurface.Figure2givestheproportionofcurrentdensityrelativetoa
cylindricalconductorradius.

Figure2Normalisedcurrentdensityvsradiusatdifferentfrequencies

Althoughtheinternalinductancecanbesignificantitistheexternalinductance,Lexresultingfrom
thefieldemanatingfromtheconductorsurfacethatdominates.Theexternalinductanceofa
cylindricalwireofradiusaandlengthlcanbeapproximatedby

ln

Wherelisthelength.Soletsmakeacomparisonbetweeninternalandexternalinductance
Wire(AWG26)hasaradiusof0.2mm.Theinternalinductancefromequation8is

2
And

2.39

10

Andusingequation9tocalculatetheexternalinductanceatablecanbeconstructedshowingthe
rationofinternaltoexternalinduceatdifferentfrequencies
F(GHz)
0.1
2
5

(m)
6.266
1.4
0.886

Lex(nH)
17.1
17.1
17.1

Lin(nH)
0.0617
0.0138
0.00872

Lin/Lex
3.60X103
8.05X104
5.09X104

Resistorsathighfrequency.
Physicalresistorscomeinvariousforms
1)
2)
3)
4)

Carboncomposition
Wirewound
Metalfilm
Thinfilm

Photoinsert.
OfthesethethinfilmchiporsurfacemounteddevicesareusedforRFandMWcircuitsbecauseof
theresmallsizeandgoodRFperformance.Resistorsarenecessarilyconnectedbywires,which
haveinductanceandinternalcapacitancecausedbychargeseparationintheresistormaterial.A
linearnetworkcircuitcanbedrawnthus:

Figure3TopLlaretheleadinductances,CarepresentsthematerialcapacitanceandRisdcresistance.Bottomisthe
equivalentcircuitforawirewoundresistance.Notetheextraininductanceresultsfromtheselfinductanceofthe
resistancewirewoundtocreatetheresistance

Takingtheequivalentcircuitfortheametalfilmresistorofnominalvalueof2kusingthecircuit
modelinfigure3wherethereare2.5cmofwireconnectionsof0.203mmradiusandthestray
capacitanceandtakingtheconductivityofcoppertobe64.5X106/Sm.Usingequation9

0 := 4 10

0 l

ln 2 l 1
Lex :=

2 a

Lex = 5.2 10

a := 0.203 10

l := 0.05

Lengthistwicetheleadedconnections.Notethisformulaassumesthattheskindepthis<<thanthe
wireradius.
Usingthetopequivalentcircuitinfigure3theimpedancewithfrequencycannowbeplotted

1
1/

Whichresultsinaresponse

Causedby
Ca

Caused
byLex

Figure4Frequencyresponseofthemagnitudeoftheresistorequivalentcircuit.TheDeepnadirat300Mhziscausedby
theseriesresonancebetweenLexandCa.Below2MhztheresistanceisthevalueofR

Soonlyatlowfrequencies,belowabout2Mhztheresistanceisthedesignvaluebutabovethatthe
straycapacitancefirstreducesitsvaluetothatatresonanceandthenincreaseduetothestray
inductance.

Capacitorsathighfrequency.
Chipcapacitorsarewidelyusedinfrequencydependentcircuits,filters,oscillatorsanddecoupling.
ADCthecapacitanceis

WhereAtheareaofthecapacitanceelectrodesanddtheseparation.Ifthedielectricisanything
otherthanairthenthepermittivityoffreespaceismultipliedbyaunitlessfactortherelative
permittivityusually>1.Asthefrequencyincreasesthedielectriccanbecomelossysoits
impedanceisexpressedastheparallelcombinationofconductance,GeandsusceptanceC
1

TheconductanceGe=dielectricA/dwheredielectricistheconductivityofthedielectric.The
ratioofthisconductivityandisconventionallycalledthelosstangent.
tan

tan

Thelosstangentisfrequencydependentitself.Sonowwecanconstructtheequivalentcircuit

Figure5Equivalentcircuitofcapacitanceathighfrequency,Liistheleadinductance,RstheleadresistanceandRethe
dielectriclossthatisfrequencydependent

WhereLiistheleadinductanceandRsistheleadresistanceReistheresistancerepresentingthe
dielectriclossRe=1/Ge.Sotheoverallimpedancecanbesetdown
1
1

Foraspecificexample:whatistheresponseofa47pFcapacitorwithdielectricmediumof
aluminiumoxide,Al2O3,whichhasalosstangentto104.Theconnectleadsare1.25cm,0.203mm(
26AWG)andtheconductivityofcopperis64.5X106/Sm.Usingequation9

Plottheresponseofthemodelinfigure5weseetheequivalentcapacitance,liketheresistancehas
resonantfrequency.

Zc( t) := j L + Rs +

1
j C +

Re

Ideal
capacitor

Figure6Thefrequencydependenceofarealcapacitor.Noticeresonantnadircausedbytheleadinductanceresonanting
withcapacitance.

Itisassumedinthisdemonstrationthattanfrequencyindependent.Thelosstangentcanalsobe
definedasanequivalentseriesresistance,ESR

Type equation here.

0 := 4 10

0 l

ln 2 l 1
Lex :=

2 a

Lex = 2.253 10

a := 0.203 10

l := 0.025

Wherelaccountsforbothleads.Theseriesresistancemustdeterminedbytakingskindepthinto
account.
l
f 0 cu
Rs :=
2 a cu

Rs = 0.048

0 f

Rs :=

2 a cu

Rs = 0.048

ThelossresistanceinthecapacitorisRe=1/Ge
4

Tan := 1 10

12

Cc := 47 10

Re :=
2 Cc f Tan

Re = 3.386 10

At100Mhz.

Realcapacitorsareconstructedtominimisecontactimpedanceandmaximumcapacitance/volume


Figure7Constructionofaceramicchipcapacitor

Inductorsathighfrequency
InductorsareusedinRFcircuitsforblockRFinbiasingandgivingfrequencyselection.Physically
thoughadjacentwindingofthecoilsarelinkedbycapacitanceandthecoilconductorwillhave
resistancewhichitselfisfrequencydependentduetotheskineffect.

Figure8Physicalcoilwithseriesresistanceandwindingcapacitance

Theimplicationofthismodelisthatatsomefrequencyitwillresonate,callsenseresonance.As
beforeanequivalentcircuitcanbedefinedbasedontheseobservations

Figure9Equivalentcircuitofarealinductor

AnditsAdmittiane=1/Zdescribedthus
1

Againasinthecapacitorasanexampleacoilisconstructedwith3.5turnsof127umdiameterwire
witharadiusof1.27mm.Theinductanceofshortcoilisgivenapproximatelyby
2

L :=

10 r 0 N

9 r + 10 l

Givingavalueof32.3nH.IftheskineffectisneglectedthenRsissettotheDCvalueofLwire/

Lwire := 2 r N

Rdc :=

Lwire
cu a

Givingavalueof0.034ohms.Itsresponsewouldbeforacoilselfcapacitanceof40pF

Ideal
inductor

Figure10Frequencydependenceofarealinductor