%0 Journal Article %T Spatial Qualification Tests for Highly Selective Compact Micromachined Band Pass Planar Filters %A Raghida Hajj %A Matthieu Chatras %A Pierre Blondy %A Olivier Vendier %A Wolfgang Tschanum %A Frederic Courtade %J International Journal of Microwave Science and Technology %D 2012 %I Hindawi Publishing Corporation %R 10.1155/2012/650754 %X A highly selective planar band pass filter is proposed for satellite receivers to suppress intermodulation components. The 4-pole filter has a center frequency of 19.825£¿GHz with a bandwidth of 240£¿MHz. The measured quality factor is over 600 and the insertion losses are 4.1£¿dB. The micromachining technological process is used to fabricate this filter. A BCB (benzocyclobutene) thin layer is used as an electrical and mechanical support for the filter. The compatibility of the BCB with the spatial constraints was tested. Various tests were accomplished for this purpose and the results of all these tests are presented in the paper. The tests showed a very small influence of the temperature variation and high temperature storage test and practically no influence of the radiation test on the circuit. 1. Introduction Today¡¯s world is a vast network of global communication. Technology has improved the way in which human beings communicate and transfer information. Although a number of different technical developments have contributed to this improvement, it can be argued that the technology of wireless communications has had a greater impact on modern communications than any other single technology. Wireless industry is the subject of various research works for different applications [1, 2]. The use of satellite systems is one way to achieve wireless communication [3]. In these systems as in all wireless systems, it is very important to achieve very compact and low-cost components. To reach these goals, the choice of the technology is very important. Wireless devices have clearly benefited from the utilization of integrated circuits in many ways, most notably their size and thus portability. The objective of this work is to fabricate compact filters for suppression of intermodulation products in satellite receivers. Planar circuits are very good candidate in terms of size and cost. But at high frequencies, they suffer from important dielectric and radiation losses. Micromachining [4¨C8] consists of etching a substrate to form cavities and waveguides. These formed elements could be used to design filters in volumetric [9, 10] or in planar topologies [11, 12]. The micromachining process associated with cavity assembly allows the resolution of planar circuit problems and thus working at higher frequencies [12] which also means better rates of transmission of the system. In this case, the circuit is deposited on a thin dielectric BCB layer [11¨C13] which is newly used in spatial applications and needs to be tested for compatibility. 2. Filter Topology, Technology, %U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijmst/2012/650754/