JP2005176211A - Dielectric resonator device, dielectric duplexer, communication device, and manufacturing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a dielectric filter, a dielectric duplexer, a communication device, and a manufacturing method of the dielectric resonator device, for shortening the time required for forming input and output electrodes, reducing costs required for manufacturing and adjusting, and capable of adjusting characteristics on a wide range. <P>SOLUTION: Through holes 2a to 2c having inner conductors 4a to 4c formed in inner surface thereof are provided in a dielectric block 1, and an outer conductor 5 is formed on outer surface of the dielectric block 1. The resonator is composed of the inner conductors 4a to 4c, the dielectric block 1, and the outer conductor 5. Input and output electrodes 6a, 6b for coupling to the resonator are formed on the outer conductor 5 by providing separating portions 7a, 7b. In the separating portions 7a, 7b, channels 8a, 8b for adjusting characteristics, having narrower width than its gap width, and having a predetermined depth are formed by laser beam machining. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a dielectric resonator device in which at least one dielectric coaxial resonator is formed in a dielectric block, a dielectric duplexer, a communication device including them, and a method of manufacturing the dielectric resonator device. is there.

  The configuration of a conventional dielectric filter using a dielectric block is shown in FIG. (A) is a perspective view depicting the input / output electrodes on the top surface, (B) is a cross-sectional view of the A-A ′ portion in (A), and (C) is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the B portion in (B). As shown in FIG. 10, three through holes 2a to 2c are formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped dielectric block 1, and inner conductors are formed on the inner surfaces thereof. On the outer surface of the dielectric block 1, outer conductors 5 are formed on the other five surfaces excluding one opening surface of the through holes 2a to 2c. Input / output electrodes 6a and 6b separated from the outer conductor 5 are formed on the outer surface of the dielectric block 1 by providing spaced portions 7a and 7b.

  In this way, between the vicinity of the open end of the inner conductor formed on the inner surface of the through hole 2a and the input / output electrode 6a, the vicinity of the open end of the inner conductor formed on the inner surface of the through hole 2c, and the input / output electrode 6b Between the input / output electrodes 6a and 6b and the outer conductor 5, stray capacitances Cs are respectively generated.

Patent Document 1 discloses that the input / output electrodes are formed by providing the separation portions 7a and 7b on the outer conductor formed on the outer surface of the dielectric block in this manner. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-228473 discloses a technique in which the characteristics of the dielectric filter are adjusted by changing the depth and width of the groove when the separation portion is provided by the groove.
JP-A-6-334414 JP-A-7-15206

  In the dielectric filter disclosed in Patent Document 2, the external coupling Q (Qe) is controlled by the depth or width of the separation portion between the outer conductor and the input / output electrode. When trying to increase the depth, there is a problem that the time required for the cutting process of the separation portion becomes longer in proportion to the groove depth.

  Moreover, since the said separation part forms a groove | channel in the outer surface of a dielectric block with the cutting tool by ultrasonic vibration as disclosed by patent document 1, in order to control the width | variety of a separation part, a cutting tool There is a problem that it is necessary to change the cost. Further, it is necessary to secure the minimum width of the separation portion so that the input / output electrode is not short-circuited with the ground electrode on the substrate even when the positional deviation occurs when the dielectric filter is mounted on the substrate. For this reason, the method of determining the characteristics by changing the width of the separation portion has a problem that the degree of freedom in design or manufacturing is small.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, shorten the time required for forming the input / output electrodes, reduce the cost required for manufacturing and adjustment, and permit dielectric adjustment over a wide range. An object of the present invention is to provide a device, a dielectric duplexer, a communication device, and a method for manufacturing a dielectric resonator device.

  In the resonator device of the present invention, at least one through hole having an inner conductor formed on the inner surface is provided in the dielectric block, an outer conductor is formed on the outer surface of the dielectric block, and the inner conductor formed in the through hole The dielectric block and the outer conductor constitute a resonator, and an input / output electrode coupled to one of the resonators is formed apart from the outer conductor, the input / output electrode and the outer conductor film, A characteristic adjustment groove having a predetermined depth and a width narrower than the gap width of the separation portion is formed in the separation portion separating the gaps.

  The characteristic adjusting groove is formed over the entire circumference of the spacing portion. For example, it is formed along the outer periphery of the input / output electrode.

  The dielectric duplexer according to the present invention includes a transmission filter unit and a reception filter unit, and at least one of the filter units is configured by the dielectric resonator device having the above-described configuration.

  The characteristic adjusting groove is formed, for example, along the inner circumference of the outer conductor surrounding the input / output electrode.

  The communication device of the present invention is characterized in that the communication signal processing circuit unit includes the dielectric resonator device or the dielectric duplexer configured as described above.

  Furthermore, the method for manufacturing a dielectric resonator device according to the present invention includes a step of forming a conductive film on the dielectric block, and a step of laser processing the conductive film to form the separation portion and the characteristic adjusting groove. It is characterized by including.

  According to the present invention, the characteristic adjusting groove having a predetermined depth and a width narrower than the gap width of the separation portion is formed in the separation portion separating the input / output electrode and the outer conductor. The characteristic adjusting groove can be formed in a shorter time than when the characteristic is determined by adjusting the groove depth. In addition, since the characteristic adjustment is not performed by changing the width of the spacing portion (since the gap width of the spacing portion can be made constant), the manufacturing cost can be reduced even when the spacing portion is formed by a cutting tool. Further, even if a minimum width is secured to prevent the input / output electrodes from being short-circuited when mounted on the substrate, the characteristic adjustment range can be widened, so that desired characteristics can be obtained over a wide range. Further, since the characteristic adjusting groove having a narrow groove width is provided, fine adjustment of the characteristic adjustment is facilitated.

  Further, according to the present invention, by forming the characteristic adjustment groove over the entire circumference of the separation portion, it is possible to increase the change in the external coupling Q (Qe) per depth of the characteristic adjustment groove, Desired characteristics can be obtained with a small amount of processing.

  Further, according to the present invention, the external coupling Q () against the change in the depth of the characteristic adjusting groove is formed by forming the characteristic adjusting groove over the entire circumference along the inner periphery of the outer conductor that surrounds the input / output electrodes. The change in Qe) can be increased, and desired characteristics can be obtained with a small amount of processing.

  Further, according to the present invention, a low-cost dielectric duplexer can be obtained by including the dielectric resonator device having the above configuration.

  Further, according to the present invention, the manufacturing cost can be reduced by forming the separation portion and the characteristic adjusting groove by laser processing of the conductive film formed on the dielectric block, and a low cost dielectric resonator device can be obtained. .

A configuration of a dielectric filter which is a dielectric resonator device according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
1A is a perspective view drawn with the input / output electrodes on top, FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view of the AA ′ portion in FIG. 1A, and FIG. 1C is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the B portion in FIG. It is. (D) is sectional drawing in the surface parallel to the axis | shaft of three through-holes 2a-2c.

  As shown in FIG. 1, three through holes 2a to 2c are formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped dielectric block 1, and inner conductors 4a to 4c are formed on the inner surfaces thereof. On the outer surface of the dielectric block 1, outer conductors 5 are formed on the other five surfaces excluding one opening surface of the through holes 2a to 2c. Input / output electrodes 6a and 6b separated from the outer conductor 5 are formed on the outer surface of the dielectric block 1 by providing spaced portions 7a and 7b.

  In this way, between the vicinity of the open end of the inner conductor 4a formed on the inner surface of the through hole 2a and the input / output electrode 6a, and the vicinity of the open end of the inner conductor 4c formed on the inner surface of the through hole 2c and the input / output electrode. The external coupling capacitance Ce is generated between the input / output electrodes 6a and 6b and the outer conductor 5, respectively.

  The spacing portions 7a and 7b are formed by laser processing on the outer conductor 5 as will be described later. Further, characteristic adjusting grooves 8a and 8b having a predetermined width and a predetermined depth are formed along the inner periphery of the outer conductor 5 surrounding the input / output electrodes 6a and 6b. When the widths of the characteristic adjusting grooves 8a and 8b are constant, the stray capacitance between the input / output electrodes 6a and 6b and the outer conductor 5 decreases as the groove depth increases.

  FIG. 2 is an equivalent circuit diagram of the dielectric filter shown in FIG. Here, R1, R2, and R3 are dielectric coaxial resonators constituted by the inner conductor, the dielectric block 1, and the outer conductor 5 formed on the inner surfaces of the through holes 2a to 2c. Since each through-hole 2a-2c is a step hole whose inner diameter on the open end side is larger than that on the short-circuit end side, these resonators are capacitively coupled. The stray capacity Cs decreases as the groove depth of the characteristic adjusting grooves 8a and 8b increases. As a result, since the characteristic impedance of the resonator is increased, the external coupling Q (Qe) is decreased, and the coupling with the external circuit is increased.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a change in Qe when the volume of the separation portion is changed. (1) is the characteristic according to the first embodiment, and (4) is the characteristic of a conventional dielectric filter that changes the groove depth of the entire spacing portions 7a and 7b. Here, the gap width of the separation portions 7a and 7b is 0.4 mm, the groove depth of the separation portion is 10 μm, the groove width of the characteristic adjustment grooves 8a and 8b is 0.05 mm, and the characteristic adjustment grooves 7a and 7b The groove depth is changed. When the volume of the separated portion is 0.05 [mm ³ ], Qe is about 22, and when the volume of the separated portion is 0.1 [mm ³ ], Qe is about 18.7. On the other hand, in the conventional example shown in (4), when the volume of the separation portion is set to 0.1 [mm ³ ], Qe changes only to about 20.5. In this way, the width that Qe can take with respect to the volume change of the separation portion is greatly changed as compared with the conventional case, and a desired Qe characteristic can be obtained with a small adjustment amount.

Next, a dielectric filter according to a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
3A is a perspective view drawn with the input / output electrodes on top, FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view of the AA ′ portion in FIG. 3A, and FIG. 3C is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the B portion in FIG. It is. In the first embodiment, the characteristic adjusting grooves 8a and 8b are formed over the entire circumference of the separation portion. However, in the example shown in FIG. 3, the characteristics are only given to the surfaces forming the same surface of the two input / output electrodes 6a and 6b. Adjustment grooves 8a and 8b are formed. Other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  Thus, by forming the characteristic adjustment grooves 8a and 8b only on the same surface of the dielectric block 1, the dielectric block 1 is formed when the characteristic adjustment grooves 8a and 8b are formed by laser processing as will be described later. Since the process can be performed by one process while being fixed, it is possible to reduce the number of man-hours and time for manufacturing.

Next, a dielectric filter according to a third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
4A is a perspective view drawn with the input / output electrodes on top, FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view of the AA ′ portion in FIG. 4A, and FIG. 4C is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the B portion in FIG. It is. In the first embodiment, the characteristic adjusting grooves 8a and 8b are formed along the inner circumference of the outer conductor 5 surrounding the input / output electrodes 6a and 6b. In the third embodiment, the input / output electrodes 6a and 6b Characteristic adjusting grooves 8a and 8b are formed along the outer periphery. Other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment.

The change in Qe with respect to the change in volume of the separation portion of the dielectric filter is as shown in (2) of FIG. When the volume of the separation portion is 0.05 [mm ³ ], Qe is about 22, and when the volume of the separation portion is 0.75 [mm ³ ], Qe is about 20. As shown in the first embodiment, the change in Qe is smaller than that in the case where the characteristic adjusting groove is formed along the inner periphery of the outer conductor 5 surrounding the input / output electrodes 6a and 6b, but compared with the conventional case. And a sufficiently large change can be obtained.

Next, the configuration of the dielectric filter according to the fourth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
In this dielectric filter, characteristic adjustment grooves 9a and 9b are formed on the outer periphery of the input / output electrodes 6a and 6b, and characteristic adjustment grooves 8a and 8b are formed on the inner periphery of the outer conductor 5 surrounding the input / output electrodes, respectively. Yes. Other configurations are the same as those in the first and third embodiments.

  By providing the characteristic adjustment grooves on both the outer periphery of the input / output electrode and the inner periphery of the outer conductor in this manner, the total deleted volume with respect to the change in the groove depth of the characteristic adjustment groove is increased. Can be set.

FIG. 6 (3) shows an example of such a case. When the characteristic adjusting grooves 8a and 9a (or 8b and 9b) are combined, the Qe is about 22 to about 18 when the volume of the separated portion is changed from 0.05 [mm ³ ] to 0.125 [mm ³ ]. Change. Thus, Qe can be set over a wide range.

Next, the configuration of a dielectric duplexer according to a fifth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view drawn with the input / output electrodes on top. Through holes 2a to 2f are formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped dielectric block 1, and inner conductors are formed on the inner surfaces thereof. On the outer surface of the dielectric block 1, outer conductors 5 are formed on the other five surfaces excluding one opening surface of the through holes 2a to 2f. On the outer surface of the dielectric block 1, input / output electrodes 6a, 6b, 6c separated from the outer conductor 5 are formed by providing spaced portions 7a, 7b, 7c.

  In this way, between the vicinity of the open end of the inner conductor formed on the inner surface of the through hole 2a and the input / output electrode 6a, the vicinity of the open end of the inner conductor formed on the inner surface of the through hole 2f, and the input / output electrode 6b Between the input / output electrodes 6a and 6b and the outer conductor 5, stray capacitances Cs are respectively generated.

  Inside the dielectric block 1, an excitation hole 10 having an inner conductor formed on its inner surface is arranged in parallel to the through holes 2a to 2f. An outer conductor 5 that is electrically connected to the inner conductor at the end of the excitation hole 10 is formed on one opening surface (hereinafter referred to as “open surface”) side of the dielectric block 1 where the outer conductor 5 is not formed. An input / output electrode 6c spaced from the outer conductor 5 is formed on the short-circuit surface side of the dielectric block 1, and the inner conductor is conducted to the input / output electrode 6c at the other opening of the excitation hole 10. Yes. Three dielectric coaxial resonators are constituted by the inner conductor, the dielectric block 1, and the outer conductor 5 formed on the inner surfaces of the through holes 2a to 2c. Since the inner diameters of the open ends of these through holes 2a to 2c are larger than the short-circuit ends, the adjacent resonators are capacitively coupled. The resonator formed by the through hole 2a is capacitively coupled to the input / output electrode 6a. The resonator formed by the through hole 2c is interdigitally coupled to the excitation hole 10. Similarly, three dielectric coaxial resonators are constituted by the inner conductor, the dielectric block 1, and the outer conductor 5 formed on the inner surfaces of the through holes 2d to 2f. Since the inner diameters of the open ends of these through holes 2d to 2f are larger than those of the short-circuit ends, the adjacent resonators are capacitively coupled. The resonator formed by the through hole 2f is capacitively coupled to the input / output electrode 6b. The resonator formed by the through hole 2d is interdigitally coupled to the excitation hole 10.

  The three-stage resonator formed by the through holes 2a to 2c functions as a transmission filter, and the three-stage resonator formed by the through holes 2d to 2f functions as a reception filter. Therefore, the entire apparatus functions as an antenna duplexer in which the input / output electrode 6a is a transmission signal input terminal, the input / output electrode 6b is a reception signal output terminal, and the input / output electrode 6c is an antenna terminal.

In such a dielectric duplexer, the characteristic adjusting grooves 8a and 8b are formed in the input / output electrodes 6a and 6b as in the case of the dielectric filter shown in the first to fourth embodiments. By providing the characteristic adjusting groove 8a, the strength of coupling between the input part of the transmission filter of the dielectric duplexer and the output part of the transmission circuit is determined. Also, by providing the characteristic adjusting groove 8b, the strength of coupling between the output part of the reception filter of the dielectric duplexer and the input part of the reception circuit is determined.
The input / output electrode 6c as an antenna terminal is not particularly provided with a characteristic adjusting groove. In the example shown in FIG. 7, a part of the separation portions 7 a and 7 b that separate the input / output electrodes 6 a and 6 b from the outer conductor 5 is connected to the open surface of the dielectric block 1 (surface on the left front side in FIG. 7). However, in this portion, as shown in some previous embodiments, the separation portion may be provided so as to surround the periphery of the separation portion with the outer conductor 5.

Next, a method for manufacturing a dielectric resonator device will be described as a sixth embodiment with reference to FIG.
FIG. 8A shows the state of laser processing on the dielectric filter 100. Dielectric filter 100. It is placed and fixed in a recess of a predetermined jig so that the input / output electrodes are on the upper surface. A laser unit (laser beam irradiating unit) 90 is disposed above the portion on which the dielectric filter 100 is placed. 8B is a plan view of the input / output electrode 6a portion that performs laser processing, and FIG. 8C is a cross-sectional view of the AA ′ portion in FIG. (B ′) is an example in which the scanning path interval is drawn roughly in order to clarify the scanning path of the laser beam spot.

  The spacing portion 7a scans the spot of the laser beam so as to reciprocate along the “U” -shaped path as indicated by the dashed arrow in (B), thereby forming a groove having a depth of 10 μm and a width of 0.4 mm.

  In the characteristic adjustment groove 8a, a characteristic adjustment groove having, for example, a groove width of 0.05 mm and a depth of 30 μm is formed by repeating scanning of the laser beam spot a predetermined number of times. The gap width (0.4 mm) of the separation portion 7a is set to a predetermined width so that the input / output electrode 6a is not short-circuited due to the accuracy of mounting position deviation when the dielectric filter is mounted on the substrate.

  The characteristic adjustment is performed so that a desired dielectric filter characteristic (characteristic determined by Qe) is obtained by measuring the characteristic of the dielectric filter in a state where the input / output electrode 6a is separated from the outer conductor 5 by the formation of the separation part 7a. The number of scans of the laser beam spot passing through the groove 8a is determined. The formation of the characteristic adjusting groove 8a may be performed at once, or the measurement and adjustment of characteristics may be repeated a plurality of times until the electrical characteristics of the dielectric filter reach desired characteristics.

  In this way, in order to provide the characteristic adjusting groove whose groove width is narrower than the gap width of the separating portion 7a, it is only necessary to scan the laser beam spot in a linear shape instead of a planar shape, so that fine adjustment of the characteristic adjustment is easy. It becomes.

  When providing the characteristic adjusting grooves on both side surfaces of the dielectric block 1 (two surfaces perpendicular to the mounting surface with respect to the substrate), the surface to be irradiated with the laser beam is directed to the laser unit 90 shown in FIG. The dielectric filter 100 is set up.

  In the example shown in FIGS. 8B and 8C, the characteristic adjusting groove is formed along the inner periphery of the outer conductor 5 surrounding the input / output electrode. However, the characteristic is adjusted along the outer periphery of the input / output electrode 6a. The same applies to the case where an adjustment groove is provided.

  In each of the embodiments described above, a dielectric resonator device in which no electrode is provided on the open surface of the dielectric block is shown. However, an electrode for coupling between resonators is formed on the open surface. The present invention can also be applied to a dielectric resonator device. In addition, an outer conductor is formed on the outer surface (six surfaces) of a rectangular parallelepiped dielectric block, an inner conductor non-forming portion is provided near or at the end inside the through hole, and the stray capacitance is increased at that portion. The present invention is also applicable to a dielectric resonator device of the type that is generated.

Next, a configuration example of a communication apparatus according to the seventh embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of the communication apparatus. The transmission system of this apparatus includes a transmission filter of a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) 138, a mixer 134, a band pass filter 133, an amplifier 132, an isolator 131, and a duplexer 123. The mixer 134 mixes the oscillation signal of the VCO 138 and the transmission signal. The band pass filter 133 passes a signal in a necessary transmission band among the mixing signals from the mixer 134. The amplifier 132 amplifies the signal and transmits it from the antenna 122 via the isolator 131 and further via the transmission filter of the duplexer 123. The reception system includes a reception filter of the duplexer 123, an amplifier 135, a band pass filter 136, a mixer 137, and a band pass filter 139. The reception signal from the antenna 122 passes through the reception filter of the duplexer 123, is amplified by the amplifier 135, and only the necessary reception signal band is selected by the band pass filter 136. The mixer 137 mixes this signal with the local signal output from the bandpass filter 139 and outputs the mixed signal to the receiving circuit.

  The dielectric duplexer having the configuration shown in the above embodiment can be applied to the duplexer 123. The single filter described above can be applied to any one of the filters 133, 136, and 139.

The figure which shows the structure of the dielectric material filter which concerns on 1st Embodiment. Equivalent circuit diagram of the same dielectric filter The figure which shows the structure of the dielectric material filter concerning 2nd Embodiment. The figure which shows the structure of the dielectric material filter concerning 3rd Embodiment. The figure which shows the structure of the dielectric material filter concerning 4th Embodiment. The figure which shows the relationship of Qe with respect to the volume of the separation part of the dielectric filter of each embodiment, and the dielectric filter by a prior art A perspective view showing composition of a dielectric duplexer concerning a 5th embodiment. The figure shown about the manufacturing method of the dielectric resonator apparatus which concerns on 6th Embodiment The figure which shows the structure of the communication apparatus which concerns on 7th Embodiment. The figure which shows the structure of the conventional dielectric filter

Explanation of symbols

1-dielectric block 2a-2c-through hole 4a-4c-inner conductor 5-outer conductor 6a, 6b, 6c-input / output electrode 7a, 7b-separating portion 8a, 8b-characteristic adjusting groove 9a, 9b-characteristic adjustment Groove 10-excitation hole 90-laser unit 100-dielectric filter 123-duplexer Ce-external coupling capacitance Cs-stray capacitance

Claims (6)

At least one through hole having an inner conductor formed on the inner surface is provided in the dielectric block, an outer conductor is formed on the outer surface of the dielectric block, the inner conductor formed in the through hole, the dielectric block, and the outer conductor. In the dielectric resonator device in which the resonator is configured with the separation portion separated from the outer conductor and the input / output electrode coupled to one of the resonators is formed,
A dielectric resonance characterized in that a characteristic adjusting groove having a width narrower than a gap width of the gap portion is formed in a gap portion separating the input / output electrode and the outer conductor with a gap width. Equipment.   The dielectric resonator device according to claim 1, wherein the characteristic adjusting groove is formed over the entire circumference of the separation portion.   The dielectric resonator device according to claim 2, wherein the characteristic adjusting groove is formed along an inner periphery of the outer conductor surrounding the input / output electrode.   A dielectric duplexer comprising a transmission filter unit and a reception filter unit, wherein at least one of the filter units is constituted by the dielectric resonator device according to claim 1.   A communication device comprising the dielectric resonator device according to claim 1 or the dielectric duplexer according to claim 4 in a communication signal processing circuit unit. A method for manufacturing a dielectric resonator device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
Forming a conductive film on the dielectric block;
A method of manufacturing a dielectric resonator device including a step of laser processing the conductive film to form the separation portion and the characteristic adjusting groove.

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