1950 PROCEEDINGS OF THE I.R.E.

305

A Note on Coaxial Bethe-Hole Directional Couplers*

EDWARD L. GINZTONt, SENIOR MEMBER, IRE, AND PAUL S. GOODWIN., MEMBER, IRE
Summary-The coaxial directional coupler of the Bethe-Hole
type consists of two coaxial transmission lines crossed at an angle of
60° and coupled by a single circular hole. It has been previously
shown that this device should have perfect directivity at any wave-
length, provided that (a) the diameter of the coupling hole is small
compared with X/8, (b) the thickness of the hole is infinitesimal, and
(c) only the dominant TEM mode is allowed to exist in the transmis-
sion lines. These requirements can easily be satisfied in practice.
However, with coupling holes small compared with X/8, the coupling
is too weak for many of the conventional applications (a typical
coupling is 50 db).
If the above requirements on hole size are disregarded and the
hole is made large enough to provide stronger coupling, such as
25 db, the device no longer behaves in a simple manner. The direc- (a)
tivity is no longer perfect, the angle for optimum directivity is no
longer 60°, being dependent upon frequency. A reflection is also
caused in the main transmission line due to the presence of this
large hole.
It was found that the behavior of the large hole coupler could be
explained by assuming the presence of higher order modes in the
vicinity of the coupling hole. These higher order modes can be repre-
sented by an equivalent circuit which consists of a series inductance
in the line. The harmful effect of the higher order modes can be
eliminated by making the equivalent inductance an element of a low-
pass filter. This is done by introducing an appropriate lump capacity
in the region of the coupling hole. It is found that the directivity of a
compensated large-hole coupler becomes perfect at one frequency
and remains high over a very large band; the angle between the
transmission lines for best activity then becomes 600; and the reflec- (b)
tion in the main line becomes nearly zero. Experiments conducted
over 2.5 to 1 frequency range showed excellent performance. Fig. 1-(a) Photograph showing a compensated large-hole coupler.
It is believed that, with the aid of proper compensating discon- (b) Photograph of the coupler partially cut away to show the
region of the coupling hole.
tinuities, very close coupling can be obtained, retaining at the same
time the ideal properties of the small-hole device.
AUXILIARY LINE
I. DESCRIPTION OF THE COUPLER AND THE
PRINCIPAL OPERATION
A PHOTOGRAPH of the directional coupler is
1 I I111 11L
A
I It
shown in Fig 1 (a). The circular coupling hole is
located at the intersection of the two coaxial
lines. Fig. 1(b) shows the appearance of the coupling = II I E
hole and the two coaxial lines. Figs. 2(a) and 2(b) show
MAIN LINE
the electric field and the magnetic field in the main line
of the coupler, respectively. For the purpose of dis- (a)
cussion, let it be assumed that in the main line of the AUXILIARY LINE .
coupler there is a traveling wave from left to right, and
that there is no reflected wave in the main line. The mag-
netic and electric fields at the hole are in time phase,
and the resultant fields which are coupled into the auxil-
iary line can therefore be superimposed and added di-
rectly. It is evident from the geometry of the structure
that the electric field in the main line will induce waves
in the auxiliary line which will be symmetric with re-
1111t- ,1111I
1

MAIN LINE
1 1 1 I I

* Decimal classification: R310.4. Original manuscript received (b)

by the Institute, August 10, 1948; revised manuscript received,
November 3, 1949.
t Stanford University, Stanford, Calif.
$ Formerly, Stanford University, Stanford, Calif.; now, Con-
solidated Engineering Corporation, Pasadena, Calif.
Fig. 2-(a) A schematic drawing showing the electric field in the
auxiliary line produced by electric field component of a traveling
wave in the main line. (b) A schematic drawing showing the
electric field in the auxiliary line produced by the magnetic field
component of the traveling wave in the main line.
306 PROCEEDINGS OF THE I.R.E. March

spect to the hole, whereas, the magnetic coupling will The dependence of coupling upon hole size is shown
induce waves in the auxiliary line which will be anti- in Fig. 4. The coupling was found to vary in the theo-
symmetric, as shown in Fig. 2(b). Thus, it can be seen retical manner when the coupling hole is smaller than
that the combined electric field in the auxiliary line will 2a/)X = 0.1. Larger holes produce less coupling than would
be stronger on one side of the hole than on the other. It is be expected from Bethe's theory.
to be observed that the strength of the electric coupling
should be independent of the angle between the trans- -1- -1z I4 4
I.
- -
Jo 1.60l

mission lines, while the magnetic coupling should vary - -k - -

I'll
- - -
1%
- 1-50
as the cosine of this angle. It so happens that magnetic -N--
N "I
.40 -j

coupling for a circular hole is twice as strong as the ',. .30 co

electric coupling, so that at an angle of 600 the two N,,,\

N
coupled fields are equal. Thus, at 600 one can expect per- ..\ 1.
.20

fect cancellation of fields on one side of the hole, and

reinforcement on the other. '.Ilvs
i5

Bethe (1) has shown that electric coupling and mag- 1.1I
cn
I
m.10
netic coupling for a cricular hole have identical depend- N .09
.08 E
ence upon wavelength. In coaxial lines, in the dominant N .07
u

TEM mode, the ratio of electric to magnetic field is a .06

constant. Hence, in this special case, cancellation of the .05

-1
0
Ir
two fields should be independent oftwavelength. The -.04

strength of the coupling, however, will vary and is given 0 -10 -20 -30 -40 -50
.03
-60
by COUPLING DR -

Power auxiliary line

in / a6\ THEORETICAL EXPERtMENTAL

Power in main line X2/ Fig. 4-Dependence of the coupling for the Bethe-Hole coupler
upon the hole diameter. Wavelength was held constant during
this test. 2a=0.14X; the coupler was not compensated.
where C is a constant which depends upon the diameter
and the impedance of the coaxial lines, a is the radius II. LARGE COUPLING HOLES
of the coupling hole, and X is the wavelengtlh.
Experimental confirmation of the above statements is A. General Remarks
shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Fig. 3 shows angular dependence In an effort to study the effects of close coupling, a
of the electric and magnetic coupling through a small directional coupler was built using a 0.875-inch inside
hole (diameter of the coupling hole was equal to 0.14X). diameter coaxial line, and a coupling hole of 1.098
The two types of coupling were separated by placing inches in diameter. (The couplig hole is larger than the
shorts X/4 and X/2 away from the center of the hole. inside diameter of the tubing.) The ratio of the diameter
I.0
of the hole to the wavelength used was (2a/X) = 0.28,
THEORETICAL which is obviously outside the scope of Bethe's pre-
0
U 0* EXPERIMENTAL
dictions. Indeed, an experimental study of this coupler
showed a number of significant deviations from the sim-
<j 0.6
oC1SINE E vs.e ple theory discussed above.
04.
004 1 0 o 0
0 D0 - In the tests of the large hole coupler, it was found that,
(a) SWR (in voltage) of 1.38 was produced by the
~-0.2 presence of the hole in the main line. It was found, as
4
could have been-expected, that discontinuity could be
represented by a series inductance.
0
CONE0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 08 0.9 1.0
(b) The angle at which directivity was best was no
Fig. 3-Dependence of the electric coupling E and the magnetic longer 600 but approximately 55°.
coupling H upon the angle between the two lines. (c) The directivity was very poor.
Since the discontinuity was of a series inductance
In the first of these cases, the magnetic field at the hole type, it was immediately apparent that the simplest
is zero, and the coupling is due to the electric field only. way to eliminate the effect of the discontinuity was to
In the second case, the electric field at the hole is zero, construct a T-section filter, making use of the series in-
and the coupling is due entirely to the magnetic field. ductance and adding an appropriate shunt capacity. If
Fig. 3 shows that the electric field is independent of the the characteristic impedance of this filter section is made
angle between the coaxial lines, whereas, the magnetic equal to the impedance of the line, then the reflections
coupling varies as cosine of the angle between the lines. from the hole should be eliminated. It is not imme-
Within small experimental errors, Fig. 3 demonstrates diately obvious that such compensation would also be
the validity of the elementary theory. beneficial in the case of the other two difficulties. How-
1950 Ginzton and Goodwin: Coaxial Bethe-Hole Directional Couplers 307
ever, it is plausible to think that since all of these diffi- C. Directivity of the Compensated Directional Coupler as
culties are due to the fringing fields, and if one of the a Function of Frequency
troubles is eliminated, then the others may be improved Fig. 6 shows the directivity of the compensated 1.098-
as well. While this reasoning is not on safe grounds, ex- inch hole directional coupler. It is to be observed that
periments have confirmed the general concepts. for wavelengths greater than 10 cm, the angle for opti-
B. Optimum Directivity Angle
mum directivity is independent of frequency, while the
relative directivity falls from its very high value at 10
There are many forms that an appropriate shunt cm and asymptotically approaches some moderately
capacity might take. For simplicity, a cylindrical probe high value.' The region above 10 cm represents the us-
was chosen to test the ideas described above. It consisted able range of this particular coupler.
of a 4-inch machine screw placed diametrically opposite
the hole in each of the two lines. The penetration of this u)

probe was varied, and the effect upon the angle of opti- w

mum directivity Od was noted. The results appear in

Fig. 5, where it is seen that the "-inch probe has a small t:

effect until its length becomes appreciable. A penetra- cx

tion of 0.312 inch is the maximum possible before the a

0

probe touches the inner conductor. From this figure, it M

w

is seen that equal penetrations of approximately 0.240

inch resulted in the directivity angle of 600 and, at the 54 s
same time, in optimum directivity. WAVE LENGTH )K IN CENTIMETERS
~i
o 4 8 2 6 20 24 28 32
> ,

uj 74 - -j

TO
n 3s
od
w
a 45 t _

62 cr
MV A :

25 _

4-28 TO. PROBE PENETRATION INTO EACH LINE -INCHES Fig. 6-The directivity and optimum angle for a properly com-
.140 .160 .180 .200 .220 .240 .260 .280 .3tO pensated large hole coupler as a function of wavelength. The
65 diameter of the hole=1.098 inch; inside diameter of coaxial
line=0.875 inch.

Wavelengths less than 10 cm cause the angle of opti-

mum directivity to be greater than 600, and the direc-
, 35
tivity itself to decrease sharply. The change in the prop-
erties of the device in the region below 10 cm is due to
2 the behavior of the probe. With the particular probe
used, the depth of penetration was quite large, and with
such a large penetration a series resonance in the probe
Fig. 5-The effect of capacity compensation upon the directivity
and the optimum angle of a Bethe-Hole coupler. The com-
is possible, with the result that the equivalent T section
pensating capacity is introduced by means of a 3-inch screw. acquires the form of an m-derived section, rather than
The abscissa in this graph is the depth of penetration of the of a conventional constant k-section as it was first as-
screws into the coaxial lines. The diameter of the hole=1.098
inch. Inside diameter of the coaxial line=0.875 inch. sumed. A compensating probe larger in diameter would
have had more capacitance and less inductance than the
The two points labelled M and A in this figure repre- i-inch probe, and for the same capacity should extend
sent the case in which the main line and auxiliary line the high-frequency cutoff point to a higher value. It
probes were not placed symmetrically. In this respect, should be mentioned that more complicated filter sec-
it is interesting to note that equivalent penetration of tions are possible. If two such probes are used at the
either probe is roughly the average of the two points. edges of the hole, then resonant properties of the probe
The two probes were then adjusted to give maximum could have been used to construct a proper m-derived
directivity without attempting to keep them sym- filter which would have had more uniform properties
metrical. The angle of optimum directivity with such an than the section used in these experiments.
adjustment became 600. The test of the combined dis- I The method of measurement did not accurately determine the
continuity showed that reflection in the lines was ex- absolute value of directivity, but gave relative values. The absolute
tremely small. error Is on the conservative side.
308 PROCEEDINGS OF THE I.R.E. March
III. EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES AND RESULTS
Fig. 7 shows a block diagram of the equipment used
/
in the measurement of the directivity of the directional uS

0~~~~~
>. 4/
SLIDING SHORT
-16 X0.1 800.2 0.3 70 d 04 , 605 6 so 0.7 40.0 0.8 0.9
! UNDER TEST
Cose
0~~~~
8/

a: SCALE OF e IN DEGREES.
680 7'0 60 5'0 4'0

Fig. 8-A typical curve obtained in the determination of the di-

Fig. 7-A block diagram of the equipment used in the measurement rectivity signal and optimum angle with the aid of sliding
of directivity of the couplers. terminations. Upper curve: Termination reflections in phase
with directivity voltage. Lower curve: Termination reflections
subtract from directivity voltage. The mean curve shows the
true directivity voltage.
couplers. The two terminations indicated in Fig. 7 were
made movable in position for reasons which will be ex-
plained below. The best possible artificial terminations CONCLUSION
cause measurable reflections, and these interfere with Experiments have shown that a small-hole theory of
the task of measuring high directivity. Some special Bethe predicts accurately the behavior of the single hole
techniques must be used, by means of which reflection directional coupler, provided that the ratio of the hole
due to the terminations may be separated from the sig- diameter to wavelength is 0.1 or less. In particular, the
nals caused by imperfect directivity properties of the directivity is perfect and it does not depend upon wave-
coupler. length. The angle for a perfect directivity is the theo-
If the two terminations are made so that they are retical 600.
almost perfect, then a change in position of the termina- The successful operation of this device is not limited
tion in the line will cause a change in phase of the re- to the region of small hole sizes previously thought
flected wave without changing the magnitude of the necessary, provided that the proper compensation is
reflection. One then adjusts the position of the two slid- used. The use of holes larger than the diameter of the
ing terminations so that the directivity signal is the line allows coupling in the range of 20 to 30 db at 3,000
maximum possible; this happens when the two reflec- Mc. The directivity of a properly compensated direc-
tions add in phase with the imperfect directivity signal. tional coupler is excellent over a very wide band. Ex-
Data are then taken of directivity signal as a function of periments have shown that directivity is excellent over
the angle between coaxial lines 0. The two terminations a 2.5-to-i frequency range. Moreover, this measured
are then moved X/4 which makes the combined reflec- range did not indicate that the limit has been reached.
tion from the terminations subtract from the imperfect It is believed that the useful frequency range of this de-
directivity signal. Data of signal versus angle are again vice in any given application will be determined only
taken, and sample data are shown plotted in Fig. 8. by the loss of coupling at the lower frequencies.
The curve of mean values of the two experimental tests
may be taken as the true directivity signal versus angle ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
0. The authors wish to express their gratitude to F.
Referring to Fig. 8, it is evident that the experi- Kane and J. K. Mann for assisting in the formulation of
mental points do not pass through zero, but approach a many of the experimental techniques employed in this
small finite value at some angle. This residual voltage is work; and to M. Chodorow who read this paper and
real and cannot be eliminated. This is the voltage that rendered many useful suggestions.
is due to the fact that fringing fields are present at the
hole, and that the fields induced into the auxiliary line BIBLIOGRAPHY
are in time quadrature and cannot be cancelled. Thus, 1. H. A. Bethe, "Theory of diffraction by small holes," Phys. Rev.,
the mean of the two curves gives the angle of optimum 2. vol. 66, 2nd ser., pp. 163-182; October 1 and 15, 1944.
H. A. Bethe, "Lumped constants for small irises," MIT Rad.
directivity, and the finite value of the voltage observed Lab. Report, 43-22; Unclassified; March, 1943.
at the discontinuity of experimental curves gives one a 3. H. A. Bethe, "Excitation of cavities through windows," MIT
Rad. Lab. Report 43-30; Unclassified; 1943.
measure of directivity voltage. 4. H. C. Early, "A wideband wattmeter for waveguide," PROC.
Such a procedure was used in obtaining the data 5. H. I.R.E., vol. 34, pp. 803-807; October, 1946.
C. Early, "A wide-band directional coupler for wave guide,"
shown in Fig. 6. PROC. I.R.E., Vol. 34, pp. 883-886; November, 1946.
 1950 PROCEEDINGS OF THE I.R.E.
6. F. J. Gaffney, "Microwave measurements and test equipment,"
PRoc. I.R.E., vol. 34, pp. 775-793; October, 1946.
7. E. I. Green, H. J. Fisher, and J. G. Ferguson, "Techniques
and facilities for microwave radar testing," Elec. Eng., vol. 65,
pp. 274-289; May, 1946.
8. C. F. Hadley, "Microwave wattmeter," Harvard University Rad.
Res. Lab. Report, No. 411-246, Unclassified; September, 1945.
9. R. J. Harrison, 'Design considerations for directional couplers,'
MIT Rad. Lab. Report 724; Unclassified, 1945.
10. M. C. Jones and C. Sontheimer, "The micromatch," QST, vol.
31, pp. 15-18; April, 1947.
11. B. A. Lippmann, "Theory of directional couplers," MIT Rad.
Lab. Report 860; December, 1945.
309
12. T. Moreno, "A new directional coupler for waveguide, Sperry
Gyroscope Co. Engineer's Report, unpublished; July, 1946.
13. W. W. Mumford, "Directional couplers," PROC. I.R.E., vol. 35,
pp. 160-165; February, 1947.
14. A. A. Pistolcourse and M. S. Neuman, "Device for direct meas-
urement of the coefficient of a traveling wave in feeders," Elek-
trosvyas, vol. 9, pp. 9-15; April, 1941. Summarized in Wireless
Eng., vol. 20, pp. 365-367; August, 1943.
15. H. J. Riblett, "A mathematical theory of directional couplers,"
PROC. I.R.E., vol. 35, pp. 1306-1313; November, 1947.
16. H. J. Riblett and T. S. Saad, "A new type of waveguide direc-
tional coupler," PROC. I.R.E., vol. 36, pp. 61-64; January, 1948.
17. H. A. Bethe, "Theory of side windows in waveguides," MIT
Rad. Lab. Report 43-27; April, 1943.

Admittance and Transfer Function for an n-Mesh

RC Filter Network*
E. W. TSCHUDIt
Summary-The exact evaluation of the coefficients in the admit- and the general b coefficient by
tawce and transfer functions of an n-mesh low-pass filter are given
as functions of n. It is shown by induction that if these coefficients (n + m)
are true for n, then they also are true for n+l. In particular, they are bm,n n (4)
shown to be true for n= 1. (n - i - 1) !(2m + 1) !
AN n-MESH RC filter network consisting of n An analytic proof of the above results will be given
identical meshes is shown in Fig. 1. The general by induction. It will be shown that if (3) and (4) are
expression of the transfer function for this net- true for some particular value of n, then they also hold
work has the form for n+ 1; and in particular that they are true for n =1

\E n= 1 + a,Tp + a2T2p2 + ...+ an2Tn-2pn-2 + anlTn-lpn-1 + Tnp = (1)

and of the admittance
Cp [n + b1Tp + b2T2p2 + + bn2Tn-2p"-2 + Tn-lpn-1]
..
Gn = - + + -. (2)
I + alTp + a2T2p2 + + an-2Tn-2pn-2 + a,-,Tn-lpn-1 + Tnpn

where T= RC and p=jw. It is desired to evaluate the This will prove (3) and (4) valid for all values of n
coefficients a1, a2, * an-1 and bI, b2,
-
bn2 as func- greater than zero.
tions of n.

1 ,TFg 1
Fig. I Fig. 2
If we adopt the convention of letting am,n be the mth In Fig. 2 the box represents the n-mesh network
coefficient for the case of n meshes, it can be shown that whose transfer function and admittance are given by
the general a coefficient is given by equations (1) and (2). The driving point admittance at
point A is G G,+ Cp. The driving point impedance of
a =-(n m)! +
the (n+ 1) meshes is
=

(n - m)!(2m)!
1 1 + RGn+ Tp
*
Decimal classification: R143.2 XR386.2. Original manuscript re- Zn+l = R + G - -
ceived by the Institute, May 26, 1949; revised manuscript received, Gn+Cp
November 9, 1949.
t Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation, Farmingdale, N. Y. and the admittance of the (n+ 1) meshes is