RF / MW filters

API Technologies has built its reputation on designing and delivering the most challenging RF & Microwave filters in the industry and that is why so many RF engineers trust their filter needs to them. They remain on the leading edge of microwave filter technology through innovative and out-of-the-box engineering, employing modern assembly and testing equipment, and by utilizing the most advanced microwave design software available on the market today.

Building from their extensive filter expertise, API Technologies also designs and manufactures multi-function filter assemblies. These assemblies boast many features including lower overall cost and better performance. Let us help you design the best filter to meet your unique specifications.

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Topologies:

Lumped Element Filters
Lumped element designs are best suited for applications where size and weight are critical.
Cavity Filters
Cavity Filters are known for low insertion loss and higher power handling ability.

Tubular/Coaxial Filters

Tubular/Coaxial filters offer many advantages over other topologies for bandpass and lowpass filters.
Suspended Substrate Filters
Suspended Substrate Filters are particularly suitable for highpass and lowpass applications which may be cascaded together to form broadband Bandpass Filters and Multiplexers.
SAW Filters
High performance SAW filters are available for today’s military and commercial markets.

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Lumped Element

Lumped element designs are best suited for applications where size and weight are critical. Our filter engineers are experts in Lumped Element design techniques and use a number of innovative methods to meet today’s demanding specifications.

Creative Lumped Element Filter layouts offer reduced package sizes when space is limited. Customized housings also provide superior shielding for better rejection. Multiple topologies can be integrated within a single package for broad frequency coverage.

Features

Rapid Filter Centers
  • API offers rapid cell lumped element filters covering 1 MHz-3 GHz in Bandpass, Lowpass, Highpass and Band Reject (Notch) designs with the following options: SMA connectors, surface mount or PC Pin.
  • Rapid filter solutions are for moderate complexity, standard design options only.
  • Filters within these restraints (for selected applications) can be delivered in as little as 2-4 weeks.

Creative Layouts

Utilizing sophisticated software such as Sonnet EM Simulator and SolidWorks, creative layouts can be realized to optimize package size and electrical performance.

High Power Strategies

Careful analysis of current densities and heat dissipation allow for higher power handling and smaller package size.

Innovative Designs

In order to optimize rejection and minimize loss, Spectrum Microwave engineers blend multiple topologies into a single small housing.

Maximum Rejection

For maximum rejection at specific frequencies, we incorporate strategically placed poles of attenuation.

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Cavity

Cavity Filters are known for low insertion loss and higher power handling ability. API Technologies engineers researched the suppression of intermodulation products in low loss, high power cavity designs and through careful process control and component selection devised specialized design techniques to satisfy our customers’ unique requirements.

Superior pseudo-elliptic designs our engineers generate reduce the number of sections required to meet a specified attenuation response, thereby generating a smaller cavity filter with lower passband loss, and reduced costs. Similar techniques may be employed to provide passband group delay equalization or increase attenuation over a specified stopband region.

Features

Rapid Filter Centers
  • API offers rapid cell Cavity filters covering 800 MHz-20 GHz in Bandpass designs with SMA connectors.
  • Rapid filter solutions are for moderate complexity, standard design options only.
  • Filters within these restraints (for selected applications) can be delivered in as little as 2-4 weeks.

Superior Designs

Unique resonator designs reduce overall size and increase peak power handling. Using silver plating on our resonators and internal cavity surfaces, reduces loss and offers higher Q than other less expensive plating methods.

Weight Reduction

To reduce weight and minimize passband loss, API Technologies cavity filters are generally machined from lightweight aluminum alloys and plated with high purity Gold or Silver using NADCAP controlled processes.

Enhanced Rejection

API’s pseudo-elliptic designs incorporate cross coupling to create transmission zeros resulting in enhanced close-in rejection performance without increased loss.

Minimal Temperature Drift

  • Proprietary design techniques ensure minimal temperature drift of narrowband filters.
  • API Technologies has even designed and manufactured cavity filters with temperature drifts of less than 1 ppm/°C.

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Tubular/Coaxial

Tubular/Coaxial filters offer many advantages over other topologies for bandpass and lowpass filters. Because of the mechanical configuration, they offer very broad stopbands and very high rejection.

Using capacitively coupled dielectric spacers and high precision surface finishes, tubular filters are ideal for handling high-power applications.

Known for their high unloaded Q, API Technologies tubular filters have inherently broad stopbands with very high rejection levels. Tubular Filters are only available in Bandpass and Lowpass filter designs.

Features

Superior Performance

Precision center-less ground stock allows extremely tight tolerances and thereby yields consistent unit-to-unit performance.

Low Loss and High Rejection

API Technologies tubular filters are designed to handle up to 5,000 watts, with low loss and sharp rejection.

Silver Plating for Low Loss

For applications where low loss is critical, silver plating is used to achieve extremely low loss.

Superior out-of-band Attenuation

API Technologies designs offer the highest ultimate rejection possible, providing superior out of band attenuation.

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Suspended Substrate

The wide range of realizable impedance values makes Suspended Substrate Filters particularly suitable for highpass and lowpass applications which may be cascaded together to form broadband Bandpass Filters and Multiplexers.

Realizing complex transfer functions requiring multiple filter topologies in a single package is an option few filter companies can offer. Combining both lumped and distributed elements onto one suspended substrate board, provides enhanced unloaded Q and exceptionally low insertion loss in one design. Suspended Substrate filters offer repeatability because they’re etched as well as excellent frequency stability.

Features

Innovative Designs

The engineers select Cauer, pole-placed transfer functions in many of their suspended substrate designs, resulting in highly selective, low insertion loss devices.

Ultra Stable Designs

  • API uses unique, proprietary techniques for temperature compensation and can offer temperature stabilities of ±0.1% over -55°C to +125°C.
  • In this case proprietary temperature compensation techniques are used to ensure frequency stability.
  • Suspended Substrate Stripline devices offer low parts count, small volume, are light weight and are ideally suited to volume production.

Gold Plated Vias

Gold vias provide improved grounding for superior isolation.

Expert Engineering

API’s reputation for designing and delivering some of today’s most challenging RF & Microwave filters is the reason why RF engineers trust them with their Diplexer, Triplexer, and Multiplexer designs.

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SAW Filters

API Technologies designs and manufactures high performance SAW filters for today’s military and commercial markets. API provides standard solutions for narrowband, GPS band applications, standard IF and standard RF bands. API’s design library consists of filters from 20 MHz up to 2600 MHz with semi-standard and custom solutions available. Exceptional low group delay is one feature you will find with API’s SAW filters

API utilizes several materials and design techniques that provide a wide range of filter capabilities. The design software includes SPUDT, Tapered SPUDT, DART SPUDT, Coupled Resonator Filter (CRF), Impedance Element Filter (IEF), Transverse Coupled Resonator Filter (TCRF), Reflective SPUDT, Resonators, Surface Transverse Wave (STW), non-dispersive delay lines and dispersive delay line models (among others). API also stocks several piezoelectric materials for our filters, including quartz, lithium niobate and lithium tantalate, all with various cuts.

PDFSAW Filter Brochure

→ Visit API Website for full product line

Core Competencies

  • 20 – 2600 MHz
  • Insertion Loss as Low as 1.2 dB
  • Shape Factors Below 1.10:1
  • Hermetically Sealed Packages
  • Meets MIL-STD-883 Method 1014 Conditions A & C for Gross and Fine Leak
  • Ultra-Flat Group Delay as Low as 8 ns Part to Part
  • Pre-Aged at 100°C to Lock Center Frequency Within 0.0005% (Quartz Only)

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