Abstract
Most applications of high-K paraelectrics involve microwave frequencies; tunable microwave filters and phase shifters are obvious examples. Applications such as power supply decoupling and some tunable microwave devices make use of discrete capacitors (i.e., not distributed along a transmission line). In these cases, a direct measurement of a discrete capacitor is preferable to inferring the capacitor's characteristics by overall device performance. Methods for microwave characterization are discussed for Pt/(Ba,Ca)(Ti,Zr)O3/Pt parallel-plate capacitors. Impedance, capacitance, and quality factor are extracted from vector network analyzer measurements from 45 MHz to 50 GHz.