Design and testing of SMA temperature-compensated cavity resonators

In this paper, we present a method for designing temperature-compensated cavity resonators using shape memory alloys (SMAs). This paper gives an expression for the temperature drift of resonant frequency, which is valid for any conductor-loaded cavity regardless of its shape. This formula, combined with a field perturbation model, is used to derive the resonant frequency of an SMA-compensated resonator subject to temperature fluctuation. Experimental results are given that confirm the feasibility of the proposed design approach. A design method is proposed for specifying SMA alloys to build the actuator. An expression is derived to accurately predict the performance of an actuator design.