A computer-aided design technique for minimizing spurious phase shift in microstrip p-i-n diode attenuators is presented. At 9 GHz, a spurious phase shift of 0. 17 degree /dB attenuation has been realized at 15-dB attenuation. This is better than the previous reported value (H. Imai, 1974) of 1 degree /dB attenuation at comparable operating frequencies and attenuations. The diode mounting location and the DC blocking chip capacitors on microstrip are important, among other parameters, to minimize the spurious phase shift.