The following specification relates to electronic components. Electrical components operating, for example, at Radio Frequency (RF), microwave and millimeterwave frequencies are typically designed so that the electrical component operates as expected throughout a desired frequency band (or specified operational band). For example, a capacitor can be designed to provide capacitance throughout a specified operational band. However, there are circumstances in which a capacitor in operation will provide inductance to a circuit instead of capacitance. The materials, packaging, and to a large extent the physical structure (i.e. the geometry) of a component contribute intrinsic parasitic resistances, capacitances, and inductances to the make up of the component, which can result in a component not operating as desired.
At different frequencies, component parasitics can dominate component performance. Moreover, parasitics can combine with one another or with other circuit elements to induce undesired changes—such as glitches, nulls, or phase shifts—in signals (narrowband or broadband) traveling through a circuit (or assembly).
Consequently, conventional electrical components are specified and designed to operate over a relatively narrow band within which the parasitics contributed by the geometry, materials, and packaging of a component can be effectively mitigated. For example, most capacitors are designed for operation over a relatively narrow band and may become inductive past a parasitic resonant frequency due to the above identified intrinsic sources of parasitics.
In developing ultra broadband technologies, for example, back-haul systems provided by the use of OC768 opto-electrical equipment, extremely wide bandwidths are specified and designed for despite the existing narrow band limitation imposed by conventional electrical components included in the equipment design. Ultra broadband networks require undistorted handling of signals through the optical and electrical components. Ultra broadband electrical components must therefore operate well over a continuous band of spectrum that extends from the tens of kilohertz (kHz) to the tens (or even hundreds) of gigahertz (GHz).