Compact UWB bandpass filter with improved upper-stopband performance

a compact microstrip-line ultra-wideband (UWB) bandpass filter (BPF) using aperture-backed interdigital coupled lines and a stub-loaded folded stepped-impedance resonator (SLFSIR) is presented. in the design, the first four resonant frequencies of this SLFSIR are properly adjusted to be placed evenly within the UWB while the fifth resonant frequency is raised above 16.0 GHz to improve upper-stopband performance. furthermore, the aperture-backed interdigital coupled lines can create a transmission zero to cancel the fifth resonant mode of the SLFSIR to make a wider upper-stopband as well as raising the coupling degree to relax the tight line spacing. after optimisation of this filter, good UWB bandpass behaviour is theoretically realised and experimentally confirmed.