An efficient tuning method for narrowband superconducting filters with interdigital capacitor resonators in the time domain

• We propose an effective tuning method based on the time domain for HTS filters.
• Causes of HTS filter performance deterioration are analyzed.
• The filter sensitivity is related to the resonator type and the group delay.
• A narrowband HTS filter with ICRs is tuned with this method successfully.

This article proposes an effective tuning method based on the time domain for improving the performance of high-temperature superconducting (HTS) bandpass filters with interdigital capacitor resonators (ICRs). Analysis of the causes of HTS filter performance deterioration reveal that such deterioration is primarily caused by the resonant frequency deviation of the resonator of the HTS filter; this deviation results from fabrication errors and from the non-uniformity of the thickness and dielectric constant of the substrate. The sensitivity of the filter, which arises from the non-uniformity of the substrate thickness and dielectric constant, is related to the type of the resonator and the group delay characteristic of the filter. A 0.4% fractional bandwidth HTS filter with ICRs at the UHF band is fabricated and tuned using mechanical rods in the time domain. By applying this method, the resonant frequency deviation of each resonator and the coupling coefficient between resonators can be measured and tuned individually. The insertion loss of the HTS filter is improved from 1.06 dB to 0.43 dB, whereas the return loss is improved from 9.57 dB to 15.1 dB.