Note: Tunable overlapping half-ring resonator

A unique tunable microwave resonator with a pair of half-rings is introduced and validated by experimental data. The capacitive gap between the overlapping areas can be controlled accurately using a magnetic actuator for tunability. The design geometry is scalable to cover different bands of electromagnetic spectrum. Transmission characteristics of the resonators have been modeled using finite-element analysis and have been measured. The experimental results indicate the resonant frequency can be controlled with a resolution of a few MHz in a tuning range of 38%. The resonator exhibits sharp transmission dips within the tuning range with measured quality factors larger than 2500. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.