Patent ID: 7956708

Claim:
A wideband dielectric waveguide cavity filter comprising: a dielectric body comprising a sintered dielectric material and having two or more resonator sections, said dielectric body having a first surface and an opposed second surface defining a thickness dimension of said dielectric body therebetween, a pair of transversely opposed side surfaces extending in a longitudinal direction of said dielectric body between longitudinally opposed first and second end surfaces of said dielectric body and defining a length dimension of said dielectric body, and said longitudinally opposed first and second end surfaces extending in a transverse direction of said dielectric body and defining a width dimension of said dielectric body; said two or more resonator sections including two or more resonators longitudinally disposed along the longitudinal direction of said dielectric body so that adjacent ones of said two or more resonators are coupled to one another via a coupling mechanism, wherein said coupling mechanism coupling said adjacent ones of said two or more resonators comprises one of (i) a pair of transversely opposed, metallized slots passing through said dielectric body in the thickness direction thereof proximate a respective one of said side surfaces thereof, and (ii) a metallized through hole passing through at least a central portion of said dielectric body in the thickness direction thereof; a metal ground coating substantially covering said dielectric body to define at least two uncoated regions surrounding a pair of contact pads formed on one of said first surface and said second surface of the dielectric body so that said contact pads are electrically isolated from said metal ground coating and from one another; at least one metallized, transverse slot defining an opening formed in the other one of said first surface and said second surface of said dielectric body in at least a central portion of at least one of said resonators, wherein said at least one metallized, transverse slot spans the width dimension of said dielectric body and extends from an opening on one of said longitudinal sides of said dielectric body toward an opposed opening on the opposed longitudinal side of said dielectric body; and one or more metallized blind holes extending a distance from an opening on a metallized portion of the other one of said first surface and said second surface of said dielectric body toward a blind end thereof in the thickness direction of said dielectric body; whereby said one or more metallized blind holes effectively decrease a distance between a ground plane and said pair of contact pads so as to effectively increase coupling between said two or more resonators and external circuitry.