Experimental verification of RF power sensitivity of ferroelectric varactor shunt switches

Ferroelectric varactors placed in a resonant circuit to study the RF power level dependence. At zero-bias, and low microwave power levels, the high capacitance of the varactor results in the resonance of the shunted transmission line, attenuating the signal. At higher power level, the ferroelectric varactor capacitance is reduced by the rf signal, detuning the resonance in the shunted stub, and reduces the attenuation level for the signal. The experimental power transfer curve clearly showed that the RF power dependence of the varactor is detectable.