RF behavior of wires, resistors, capacitors and inductors

• Lumped components (wires, resistors, capacitors, inductors,

connectors etc.) behave differently at low and high
frequencies.
• Why?
• current and voltage vary spatially over the component size
• Leads to the concept of distributed components!
The KCL and KVL are no
more applicable
• What do we mean by
distributed?
• Example – Inductor
Low Frequency (Lumped) High Frequency (Distributed)

ZR Z
j L ?
RF Behavior of Passive Components

• Why do inductors, capacitors, and resistors behave differently

at Radio Frequency?
• What is skin effect?
• Equivalent Circuit Model?
RF Behavior of Passive Components (contd.)

For conventional AC circuit analysis:

• R is considered frequency independent
• Ideal Inductor (L) possesses an impedance 𝑋𝐿 = 𝑗𝜔𝐿
• Ideal capacitor (C) possesses an 𝑋𝐶 = 1
impedance 𝑗 𝜔𝐶

Capacitor behaves as open circuit at DC and

low frequency whereas an Inductor behaves
as short circuit at DC and low frequencies
RF Behavior of Resistors
At low frequency:
• Resistances, inductances, and capacitances
are formed by wires, coils, and plates etc.
• Even a single wire or a copper line on a
PCB possesses resistance and inductance.
• this cylindrical copper conductor has a DC
resistance:

Length of
l cylinder
RDC
  cond
a
2

Radius of cylinder conductivity

RF Behavior of Resistors
(contd.)

• At DC, current flows

uniformly distributed over the entire
conductor cross-sectional area.
• At AC, the alternating charge carrier
flow establishes a magnetic field that
induces an electric field (Faraday’s
Law) whose associated current
flow
density→opposes
this effect
the is verycurrent
initial strong
at the center (r=0) where
the impedance is substantially
increased
→ as a result the current flow I
DC Current Density: J z  2
resides at the outer periphery 0
a
with the increasing frequency. Skin Effect
RF Behavior of Resistors
(contd.)
• The current density at AC is given pI ar
Jz exp  (1  j)
by:  2 aj  
 
r
1

p   j  f 
2

cond cond
Skin Depth

• 𝐽𝑧 drops with decrease in 𝑟 (proximity to the center)

• 𝛿 decreases with increase in frequency (skin depth from periphery
reduces with increased frequency) → means the path for
current conduction remains nearer to the periphery (skin effect) →
means, current density towards center decreases with increase in
frequency and increase in conductivity
RF Behavior of Resistors
(contd.)
Lead Solder
Seems the
Best for High
Frequency

However, copper
is still preferred
RF Behavior of Resistors (contd.)
Frequency sweep: For a fixed wire radius of 𝑎 = 1𝑚𝑚, the plot 𝐽 𝑧 𝐽
as a
function of depth 𝑟: 𝑧0

Low Frequency
Shows Uniform Medium to High
Distribution Frequency Pushes
the Current to
the Periphery

RF Sees Current
Restricted to
Surface
Resistors at High Frequencies
1. Carbon-composition resistors:

• Consists of densely packed dielectric particulates or carbon granules.

• Between each pair of carbon granules is very small parasitic capacitor.
• These parasitics, in aggregate, are significant → primarily responsible for
notoriously poor performance at high frequencies.

Equivalent Ckt Model:

Lead
Inductance

Combination of
parasitic
capacitances
Resistors at High Frequencies (contd.)
Equivalent Ckt Model:
2. Wire-wound
Capacitance
Resistors: between
Windings

• Exhibit widely varying impedances L2: lead inductance

over L1: inductance of resistive
various frequencies. wires
• The inductor 𝐿 is much larger here C2: Interlead Capacitance
as compared to carbon- Resonant
• composition
These resistor.look
resistors inductors → Frequency
like
impedances will increase with increase
in frequency.
• At some frequency 𝐹𝑟 , the
inductance will resonate with shunt
capacitance → leads to decrease in
Resistors at High Frequencies (contd.)
Equivalent Ckt Model:
3. Metal-film Resistors:
Lead
Inductance

Ca models charge separation effects and

Cb
models interlead capacitance

• Seems to exhibit very good characteristics over frequency.

• Values of 𝐿 and 𝐶 are much smaller as compared to wire-wound
and carbon-composition resistors.
• It works well up to 10 MHz → useful up to 100 MHz
Resistors at High Frequencies (contd.)
3. Thin-film Chip Resistors:
• The idea is to eliminate or reduce the stray capacitances
associated with the resistors
• Good enough up to 2 GHz.
The end contacts
Protective coat are required
prevents variations for
from any environmental soldering
interferences purposes

A metal film (usually nichrome)

These electrodes are layer is deposited on this
inserted after trimming the ceramic substrate → this layer
resistive layer to the desired works as resistor
value
Resistors at High Frequencies (contd.)
What is the reason for following behavior of a 2000Ω thin-film resistor?
Capacitors at High Frequencies
Equivalent Circuit Representation of a Capacitor → for a parallel-plate
Inductance of the leads and
plates
Represents
Insulation
Resistance

Accounts for the

losses in the
leads
A A
C  0 At high frequency, the dielectric become lossy
 d r d i.e.,
there is conduction current through it
Then impedance of capacitor
becomes a parallel combination of C
and conductance Ge
Capacitors at High Frequencies (contd.)

Presence of resonance due

to dielectric loss and finite
lead wires

• Above 𝐹𝑟 , the capacitor behaves as

an inductor.
• In general, larger-value capacitors tend to exhibit more internal
inductance than smaller-value capacitors.
• Therefore, it may happen that a 0.1𝜇𝐹 may not be as a good as a 300𝑝𝐹
capacitor in a bypass application at 250 𝑀𝐻𝑧.
Capacitors at High Frequencies (contd.)
Chip Capacitors

Cross-section of a
single-plate
capacitor connected
to the board
Inductors at High Frequencies
Equivalent Circuit Representation of an Inductor → coil type

Composite Effect of all

the distributed Rd

Composite Effect of all the

distributed Cd
Inductors at High Frequencies (contd.)

Presence of
resonance • Initially the reactance of
inductor follows the ideal but
soon departs from it and increases
rapidly until it reaches a peak at
the inductor’s resonant frequency
• Above
(𝐹𝑟 ). Why? the inductor starts to
behave
𝐹𝑟 , as a
capacitor.

Implement this in
HW#0
MATLAB or ADS
Chip Inductors

Surface mounted inductors still

come as wire-wound coil
→these are comparable in size to
the resistors and capacitors