Reconfigurable negative group delay circuit with a low insertion loss using a coupled line

This paper presents a design of a transmissive-type, low insertion loss (IL) negative group delay (NGD) circuit with a reconfigurable NGD. The proposed circuit consists of a series transmission lines (TLs) and shunt short-circuited coupled lines where an isolation port is terminated with a parasitic compensated PIN diode. Analytical design equations are derived to obtain the circuit parameters for the predefined NGD and IL. The low IL can be achieved because of the very high characteristic impedance of the short-circuited coupled lines. The TL terminated with a PIN diode is used to achieve the constant center frequency of reconfigurable NGD circuit. For experimental validation, the NGD circuit is designed and fabricated at a center frequency (f₀) of 2.14 GHz. In the measurement, the NGD varies from -0.5 ns to -2 ns with an IL variation of 2.08 to 3.60 dB at f₀ = 2.14 GHz. The NGD bandwidth (bandwidth of GD less than 0 ns) varies from 90 MHz to 50 MHz. The minimum input/output return losses are higher than 10 dB for the overall tuning range.