Introduction to planar

transmission lines and MMICs

11/7/2013
1
Lecture-I
Contents
Planar transmission lines- history, need and usage
Types of planar transmission lines
Microstrip
Strip line
Slot line
Coplanar waveguide
Fin lines
MMICs
Substrates
Connectors
Summary

11/7/2013 2 Lecture-I
Planar transmission lines
History
WW II-Integration of antennas into PCB boards
Satellite equipments light weight, less expensive, highly
reliable components required.
Need
Reduction of parasitic effects of components at higher
operating frequencies.
Lumped to distributed components migration.
Usage
Warfare- Satellite applications, air borne applications like
missiles, radio proximity fuse.
Commercial- cell phones, USB dongles, wireless routers.
11/7/2013 3 Lecture-I
Types of planar transmission lines -
Microstrip
This line consists of a single dielectric substrate with
ground plane on one side and a strip on the other
face.
Compact, simple PCB fabrication techniques can be
used.
Only Quasi TEM modes propagate.
Contributions of Harold Wheeler of ITI lab.
W
Top View Bottom
View
11/7/2013 4 Lecture-I
Typical points
Power handling capacity is upto few Watts.
Used in CPUs as interconnects.
Fringing fields exist and hence vulnerable to cross talk.
The same can be turned advantageous in coupled
lines.
Popularly used MMIC line.
No series stub connections possible which is a
disadvantage
11/7/2013 5 Lecture-I
Electrical characteristics
Characteristic impedance, Power and the width of
the line are related directly.
Length of the line and
eff
depends on frequency of
operation.
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
X: 50.03
Y: 1.925
z0 in ohms
w
/
h
wheelers curve
2.8 3 3.2 3.4 3.6 3.8 4 4.2
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
eeff
w
/
h
Shown are curves for FR-4 with
r=4.4 11/7/2013 6 Lecture-I
Typical microstrip circuits
11/7/2013 7 Lecture-I
Strip line
Strip line is a three conductor transmission line with
ground plane on both the top and bottom surface of the
substrate.
Supports TEM mode of propagation. Can be imagined
as a planar co-axial cable.
Complex fabrication techniques required.
Main reference: Strip line circuit design by Harlon
Howe.
Top
View
Bottom
View
11/7/2013 8 Lecture-I
Typical points on strip line
Homogeneous transmission line.
Used in circuits which require high EMI and
temperature shielding.
Power handling in the order of few watts.
Series and shunt stub connections possible.
Field distribution in
Stripline
11/7/2013 9 Lecture-I
Electrical characteristics
Equations for characteristic impedance and width
are given below:
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
X: 0.455
Y: 50.15
z
0

i
n

o
h
m
s
w/h
strip line curve curve
Strip line impedance curve for FR-4. Since transmission line is
homogeneous, no effective dielectric constant unlike microstrip.
11/7/2013 10 Lecture-I
Slot lines
Slot line consists of a separation in a conducting plane
in which power flows.
Non-TEM mode of propagation as there exists a
magnetic field component along the direction of
propagation.
More dispersive unlike microstrip as impedance
depends on frequency too.
w
Top view
bottom
view
11/7/2013 11 Lecture-I
Typical points on slot line
Very convenient for mounting of components as
signal and ground are in same plane.
Easier fabrication unlike strip line.
Since magnetic field component is present along
direction of propagation, this can be exploited while
designing ferrite based components.
Waveguide Transitions are easier to perform in slot
lines unlike microstrip.
11/7/2013 12 Lecture-I
Fields in slotline
Electrical characteristics
11/7/2013 13 Lecture-I
Coplanar waveguides
All conductors are in the same plane with centre strip
being the signal and two strips on either side as
ground plane.
Low dispersion and at low frequencies, mode of
propagation is approximated as quasi TEM.
s
Top view
bottom
view
side view
w
11/7/2013 14 Lecture-I
Typical points on CPW
Mounting of active or passive components both series
and shunt manner is possible.
Simple fabrication technique is sufficient.
Low loss and can support wide range of impedance
from as low as 10 to 300.
11/7/2013 15 Lecture-I
Electrical characteristics
The characteristic impedance of the CPW is given as
per the relation below:
Effective permittivity in
substrate
5 . 0
1
) 1 ( 2
log
5 . 0
1
) ' 1 ( 2
log
) ' (
) (
2
2
<
|
|
.
|

\
|

+
=
>
|
|
.
|

\
|

+
=
withk
k
k
withk
k
k
k K
k K
t
t
11/7/2013 16 Lecture-I
Impedance curve for CPW
The curves are for GaAs substrate for
r=12.9
Reference: Coplanar waveguide circuits, components and systems, by
Rainee Simons
11/7/2013 17 Lecture-I
Typical circuits using CPW line
11/7/2013 18 Lecture-I
Fin lines
11/7/2013 Lecture-I 19
Fin lines can be imagined as planar transmission
lines inserted into waveguide(Shielded slot line).
Good contact between fins and waveguide not
necessary.
Impedance, frequency of operation depends on the
waveguide cut off frequency.
Introduced by Meier.
Structure of a fin line
Types of fin lines
11/7/2013 20 Lecture-I
Substrate
Metal
Printed fin line Unilateral Symmetric fin
line
Bilateral Symmetric fin
line
Bilateral Antipodal fin line
Strip fin line
Typical points and electrical characteristics
11/7/2013 Lecture-I 21
Produce a normalized shunt capacitance across the
centre of the waveguide (explained in detail in
Foundations for microwave engineering by
R.E.Collins).




Under resonance condition,
Other planar transmission lines
11/7/2013 Lecture-I 22
Suspended microstrip line
Suspended strip line
Coupled strip line
Coupled microstrip line
Coupled slot line
Conductor backed CPW
Broad side coupled CPW/strip line
Edge coupled CPW/strip line
CPW with microshield
Substrate integrated waveguides

MMIC boards
11/7/2013 23 Lecture-I
11/7/2013 Lecture-I 24
Traditional transmitter
board
MMIC board
MMIC boards
Substrates used: Rogers, textronics, Isola, Arlon.
FR-4 substrate is best avoided in case of antenna
applications. It has the ability to contain the fields
within it and best suited for low frequency circuits.
Rogers substrates have low loss and is more rugged
to operate at high frequencies under high
temperatures and pressure.

11/7/2013 25 Lecture-I
11/7/2013 Lecture-I 26
Coefficient of Thermal
Expansion (CTE),
Thermal Coefficient of
Dielectric Constant
(TCDk),
Low modulus
Non-wettability
managing heat flow with
its high thermal
conductivity

Parameters of
substrate
Criterion for selection of substrates
11/7/2013 Lecture-I 27
Military: materials meet or are tested in accordance to military
specifications. (Mil-S-13949 now obsolete).
Commercial: materials are designed for cost sensitive
applications (military grade materials can be used in
commercial applications but pricing is higher).
Multilayer: mechanical properties are such that allow for reliable
multilayer (MLB, other than basic stripline) constructions
Hybrid: mechanical properties are such that allow for reliable
FR4 hybrid MLB constructions
Broad Band: dielectric constant allows for very high
frequency/broadband use
Temp Cycling: electrical and mechanical properties allow for
stable use in temperature varying environments
Surface Mount: mechanical properties allow for surface mount
technology
Miniaturize dielectric constant reduces sizes of circuit elements


RF connectors
11/7/2013 Lecture-I 28
Summary
11/7/2013 Lecture-I 29
Types planar transmission lines their
Structure
Field distribution
Z
0
vs. w curves and c
eff
vs. w curves
power handling capacity and nature of connections

MMIC boards
Typical receiver boards
Selection of substrate for high frequency circuits
References
11/7/2013 Lecture-I 30
Stripline circuit design by Harlan Howe
Microstrip lines and Slotlines by K.C. Gupta,
Ramesh Garg and Prakash Bhartia.
Coplanar waveguide circuits, systems and
components by Rainee Simons
Analysis, Design and Application of Finlines by
Bharathi Bhatt and S.K. Koul
Microwave Engineering by D.M. Pozar.
Foundations of microwave Engineering by R. E.
collins
Microwave solid state circuit design by I. Bahl and P.
Bhartia
Rogers corporation website

Exercises
11/7/2013 Lecture-I 31
1. Generate impedance vs width curves for microstrip
and CPW lines for FR-4, RT duroid 5880, 5870
substrates.
2. Comfortable with the structure of all planar lines
especially microstrip and CPW