Stripline and Microstrip
At low frequencies (below about 300 MHz), the characteristics of open and shorted lines have
little significance. At low frequencies the lines are just too long to be used as reactive
components or as filters and tuned circuits. However, at UHF (300 to 3000 MHz) and
microwave (1 GHz and greater) frequencies the length of one-half wavelength is less than 1 ft;
the values of inductance and capacitance become so small that it is difficult to realize them
physically with standard coils and capacitors. Special transmission lines constructed with
copper patterns on a printed circuit board (PCB), called microstrip or stripline, can be used as
tuned circuits, filters, phase shifters, reactive components, and impedance-matching circuits at
these high frequencies.
Microstrip.
Microstrip is a flat conductor separated by an insulating dielectric from a large conducting
ground plane [Fig. 13-26(a)]. The microstrip is usually one quarter or one-half wavelength
long. The ground plane is the circuit common. This type of microstrip is equivalent to an
unbalanced line. Shorted lines are usually preferred over open lines. Microstrip can also be
made in a two-line balanced version [Fig. 13-26(b)].
The characteristic impedance of microstrip, as with any transmission line, is dependent
on its physical characteristics. It can be calculated by using the formula
Problems:
Find the characteristic impedance of Microstrip with the dimensions h = 0.0625 in,
w = 0.1 in, t =0.003 in, and ε = 4.5
Solution:
Problems:
A microstrip transmission line is to be used as a capacitor of 4 pF at 800 MHz. The PCB
dielectric is 3.6. The Microstrip dimensions are h = 0.0625 in, w = 0.13 in, and t = 0.002 in.
What are (a) the characteristic impedance of the line and (b) the reactance of the capacitor?
Solution
Problems:
An RG-11/U foam coaxial cable has a maximum voltage standing wave of 52 V and
a minimum voltage of 17 V. Find (a) the SWR, (b) the reflection coefficient,
Problems
A Microstrip transmission line is to be used as a capacitor of 4 pF at 800 MHz. The
PCB dielectric is 3.6. The Microstrip dimensions are h = 0.0625 in, w =0.13 in, and
t = 0.002 in.
What are (a) the characteristic impedance of the line and
(b) the reactance of the capacitor?
Waveguides:
Any system of conductors and insulators for carrying electromagnetic waves could be called a
waveguide, but it is customary to reserve this name for specially constructed hollow metallic
pipes. They are used at microwave frequencies, for the same purposes as transmission lines
were used at lower frequencies. Hence, lines are considered as Low pass filter and Wave-guides
as High pass filters
Waveguides are preferred to transmission lines because they are much less lossy at the
highest frequencies
Stub: Piece of transmission lines use for impedance matching
RECTANGULAR WAVEGUIDES
FIGURE 10 · Waveguides. (a) Rectangular; (b) circular.
Due to skin effect the majority of the current flow (at very high frequencies) will occur
along the surface of the conductor and very little at the center. This phenomenon
has led to the development of hollow conductors known as waveguides.
A rectangular waveguide is shown in Figure 10. [ as is a circular waveguide for
comparison]. In a typical system, there may be an antenna at one end of a waveguide and a
receiver or transmitter at the other end.
The antenna generates electromagnetic waves, which travel down the waveguide to be
eventually received by the load. The walls of the guide are conductors, and therefore reflections
from them take place. ,
In discussing the behaviour and properties of waveguides, it is necessary to speak of
electric and magnetic fields, as in wave propagation, instead of voltages and currents,
as in transmission lines.
Applications Because the cross-sectional dimensions of a waveguide must be of the same order
as those of a wavelength, use at frequencies below about 1 GHz is not normally practical
Advantages
A circular waveguide is that it looks like a coaxial line with the insides removed. This illustrates
the advantages that waveguides possess. Since it is easier to leave out the inner conductor than
to put it in, waveguides are simpler to manufacture than coaxial lines.
Similarly, because there is neither an inner conductor nor the supporting dielectric in a
waveguide, flashover is less likely. Therefore the power-handling ability of waveguides is
improved, and is about 10 times as high as for coaxial. air-dielectric rigid cables
Reflection of Waves from a Conducting Plane
In view of the way in which signals propagate in waveguides, it is now necessary to consider
what happens to electromagnetic waves when they encounter. a conducting Surface
Basic behaviour : An electromagnetic plane wave in space is transverse-electromagnetic, or
TEM. The electric field, the magnetic field and the direction of propagation are mutually
perpendicular. If such a wave were sent straight down a waveguide, it would not propagate in
it. This is because the electric field (no matter what its direction) would be short-circuited by
the walls, since the walls are assumed to be perfect conductors, and a potential cannot exist
across them.
What must be found is some method of propagation which does not require an electric
field to exist near a wall and simultaneously be parallel to it. This is achieved by sending the
wave down the waveguide in a zigzag fashion (see Figure 10-3), bouncing it off the walls and
setting up a field that is maximum at or near the center of the guide, and zero at the walls.
In this case the walls have nothing to short-circuit, and they do not interfere with the wave
pattern set up between them. Thus propagation is not hindered.
Two major consequences of the zigzag propagation are apparent. The first is that the
velocity of propagation in a waveguide must be less than in free space, and the second is that
waves can no longer be TEM. The second situation arises because propagation by reflection
requires not only a normal component but also a component in the direction of propagation for
either the electric or the ·magnetic field, depending on the way in which waves are set up in
the waveguide.
This extra component in the direction of propagation means that waves are no longer
transverse-electromagnetic, because there is now either an electric or a magnetic additional
component in the direction of propagation.'
Since there are two different basic methods of propagation, names must be given to the
resulting waves to distinguish them from each other.
The American system labels modes according to the field component that behaves as it did
in free space. Modes in which there is no component of electric field in the direction of
propagation are called transverse-electric (TE, see Figure I0-5b) modes, and modes with no
such component of magnetic· field are called transverse-magnetic (TM, see Figure 10-5a).
The British and European systems label the modes according to the component that has
behaviour different from that in free space, thus modes are called H instead of TE and E instead
of TM. [The American system will be used here exclusively]
Dominant mode of operation
The natural mode of operation for a waveguide is called the dominant mode. This mode is the
lowest possible frequency that can be propagated in a given waveguide. In Figure 10-6, half-
wave length is the lowest frequency where the waveguide will still present the properties
discussed-below.
The mode of operation of a waveguide is further divided into two submodes. They are as
follows:·
1. TE m,n for the transverse electric mode (electric field is perpendicular to the directionof wave
propagation)
2. TMm,n for the transverse magnetics mode (magnetic field is perpendicular to the direction of
wave propagation)
Waveguide Size and Frequency.
Fig. 16-21 shows the most important dimensions of a rectangular waveguide: the width a and
the height b. Note that these are the inside dimensions of the waveguide. The frequency of
operation of a waveguide is determined by the size of a. This dimension is usually made equal
to one-half wavelength, a bit below the lowest frequency of operation.
This frequency is known as the waveguide cutoff frequency. At its cutoff frequency and below,
a waveguide will not transmit energy.
At frequencies above the cutoff frequency, a waveguide will propagate electromagnetic
energy. A waveguide is essentially a high-pass filter with a cutoff frequency equal to
Where is in megahertz and a is in meters.
Cutoff frequency
The lower cutoff frequency for a mode may be calculated by using
Problem:
A rectangular waveguide is 5.1 cm by 2.4 cm (inside measurements) Calculate the cutoff
frequency of the dominant .mode.
Solution:
Multiple Junctions:
When it is required to combine two or more signals (or split a signal into two or more parts)
in a waveguide system, some form of multiple junction must be used. For simpler
interconnections T-shaped junctions are used, whereas more complex junctions may be
hybrid T or hybrid rings.
T junctions Two examples of the T junction, or tee, are shown in Figure 10-25, together with
their transmission-line equivalents. Once again, they are referred to as E or H-plane trees,
depending on whether they are in the plane of the electric field or the magnetic field. All
three atoms of the H-plane tee lie in the plane of the magnetic field, which divides among the
arms
T junctions (particularly the E-plane tee) may themselves be used for impedance matching,
in a manner identical to the short-circuited transmission-line stub. The vertical arm is then
provided with a sliding piston to produce a short circuit at any desired point.
Hybrid junctions
If another arm is added to either of the T junctions, then a hybrid T junction. Or MAGIC
TEE, is obtained; it is shown in Figure 10-26. Such a junction is symmetrical about an
imaginary plane bisecting arms 3 and 4 and has some very useful and interesting properties
The basic property is that arms 3 and 4 are both connected to arms 1 and 2 but not to each
other. This applies for the dominant mode only, provided each arm is terminated in a correct
load.
If a signal is applied to arm 3 of the magic tee, it will be divided at the junction, with
some entering arm 1 and some entering arm 2, but none will enter arm 4.
This is due to the electric field for the dominant mode is evenly symmetrical about the
plane A-B in arm 4 but is unevenly symmetrical about plane A-B in arm 3 (and also in arms
1and 2, as it happens). That is to say, the electric field in arm 4 on one side of A-B is a mirror
image of the electric field on the other side, but in arm 3 a phase change would be required to
give such even symmetry. Since nothing is there to provide such a phase change, no signal
applied to arm 3 can propagate in arm 4 except in a mode with uneven symmetry about the
plane A-B
The dimensions being such as to exclude the propagation of these higher modes, no
signal travels down arm 4. Because the arrangement is reciprocal, application of a signal into
arm 4 likewise results in no propagation down arm 3. Since arms 1 and 2 are symmetrically
disposed about the plane A-B, a signal entering either arm 3 or arm 4 divides evenly between
these two lateral arms if they are correctly terminated.
This means that it is possible to have two generators feeding signals, one into arm 3 and
the other into arm 4. Neither generator is coupled to the other, but both are coupled to the
load which, in Figure 10-28, is in arm 2, (while arm 1 has a matched termination connected to
it). The arrangement shown is one of a the applications of the magic tee
