Review of Planar Ferrite Devices

Major emphasis in the microwave components area today is on economy. In the early pioneering days of microwave development, performance was the criterion of excellence, and cost played a very subordinate role. Microwave components have traditionally been state-of-the-art devices, almost hand-tailored units with relatively small production runs. The increasing application of microwaves to communications systems, a growing urge to invade consumer markets, and the advent of electronically scanned arrays have all underscored a need for more economical (even cheap!) microwave devices. This trend is associated not only with a tightened federal R & D dollar, but also with a maturing industry, Today it is not so much a question of whether or not a circuit function can be done, but can it be done economically. Increasingly, the tradeoffs between cost and performance are being exhaustively studied.