L-Band Acoustic Surface-Wave Tapped Delay Line

Microwave delay lines are of considerable interest because of the large time-bandwidth products that can be realized. Recently it has become possible to extend acoustic surface-wave technology into the microwave frequency range using the sub-micron capability of the scanning electron microscope. This paper reports the design and fabrication of a broadband multi-tapped delay line, centered at L-Band. Emphasis is placed on the microwave characterization of the low-frequency transducer circuit model, performance as strong and weak wideband taps, analysis of transducer and propagation is unique to loss contributions, as well as the fabrication technology which the realization of long, low-loss microwave delay lines.