Theoretical estimation of achievable figure of merit of microwave ferroelectric phase shifters

The goal of this paper is estimation of an achievable figure of merit of microwave phase shifters. The microwave dissipation in ferroelectric material, conducting electrodes of ferroelectric components and the loss in an external circuitry are taken into account. Equations for a theoretical estimation of an achievable value of the phase shifter figure of merit have been derived and used for simulations. It has been shown that the achievable figure of merit is at least three times as high as the figure of merit of practically realized microwave phase shifters described in literature.