Microwave Communication - Microwave Components

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Circulators and isolators
Circulators and isolators
Updated December 18, 2005
Why are circulators and isolators relatively expensive in the world of

cheap microelectronics? Because for the most part they are hand
assembled, tuned and tested. Tolerances on material properties of the
ferrite and magnet as well as mechanical tolerances mean that invariably
someone must make at least minimum wage tweaking the product.
Tuning methods are different at different manufacturers. One method is
to design the part so that the ports are all greater than 50 ohms, then
tweak the impedance down by squeezing RTV over the traces to increase
their capacitance while watching the result in real time on a network
analyzer.
Circulators
A circulator is a ferrite device (ferrite is a class of materials with strange

magnetic properties) with usually three ports. The beautiful thing about
circulators is that they are non-reciprocal. That is, energy into port 1
predominantly exits port 2, energy into port 2 exits port 3, and energy
into port 3 exits port 1. In a reciprocal device the same fraction of energy
that flows from port 1 to port 2 would occur to energy flowing the
opposite direction, from port 2 to port 1.
The selection of ports is arbitrary, and circulators can be made to

"circulate" either clockwise (CW) or counterclockwise (CCW).
A circulator is sometimes called a "duplexer", meaning that is duplexes

two signals into one channel (e.g. transmit and receive into an antenna).
This is not to be confused with the term "diplexer" which is refers to a
filter arrangement where two frequency bands are separated into two
channels from a single three-terminal device. A lot of people mix up
these terms. You can remember the correct definitions because "filter"
and "diplexer" both have an "i" in them, and "circulator" and "duplexer"
both have a "u".
What are circulators good for? The make a great antenna interface for a
transmit/receive system. Energy can be made to flow from the transmitter
(port 1) to the antenna (port 2) during transmit, and from the antenna
(port 2) to the receiver (port 3) during receive. Circulators have low
electrical losses and can be made to handle huge powers, well into
kilowatts. They usually operate over no more than an octave bandwidth,
and are purely an RF component (they don't work at DC).
Circulator rule of thumb!
A circulator's isolation is roughly equal to its return loss, and

should always be specified to the same requirement. A circulator with 20
dB isolation will need to have a return loss of 20 dB. Think about it, if
you terminate the third arm in a perfect 50 ohms, the clockwise isolation
you will measure in a CCW circulator won't be better than the stray signal
that is bouncing off the loaded port due to the reflected signal due to its
mismatch to 50 ohms.
Isolators
By terminating one port, a circulator becomes an isolator, which has the

property that energy flows on one direction only. This is an extremely
useful device for "isolating" components in a chain, so that bad VSWRs
don't contribute to gain ripple.
Circulators and isolators can be made from 100's of MHz to through W-

band (110 GHz). They can be packaged as planar microstrip components,
coaxial components or as waveguide components. Waveguide circulators
and isolators have by far the best electrical characteristics. You can
specify insertion loss down to less than 0.2 dB in some cases! Microstrip
and coax circulators and isolators might have losses between 0.5 and 1.0
dB. Note that the more bandwidth you ask for, the crummier the insertion
loss and isolation will be.
Circulator vendors
There are probably 100 garage shops around the country that claim to be
circulator manufacturers, be careful who you buy from. There are many
reputable circulator vendors for circulators. But from now on, we are
NOT going to give them any free advertising! If you want some advice
on which vendors to look at, contact us by email and we'll help you out.
Better still, tell your favorite circulator vendor to get in touch with us to
sponsor this page!
Switchable circulators
A really cool type of circulator is a switchable circulator, in which an

electrical signal is used to switch the orientation of the circulator from
CW to CCW and vice versa. The way the circulator is constructed it
latches into a particular orientation and will stay there in the absence of
the electrical signal, say, for instance your power supply goes off. The
means for switching the orientation is a single high-current DC pulse that
is provided by the driver circuit. This in an expensive technology, but it
makes an unbelievably low-loss RF switch with high power handling.
Got any good material on circulators and isolators? drop us a line, we

want to expand this page into a more useful tutorial!
Rat-race couplers
Revised February 21, 2006
Click here to go to our main page on couplers and splitters
Click here to go to our page on magic tees (a waveguide network with

similar properties to the rat-race)
Applications of rat-race couplers are numerous, and include mixers and

phase shifters. The rat-race gets its name from its circular shape, shown
below. The circumference is 1.5 wavelengths. For an equal-split rat-race
coupler, the impedance of the entire ring is fixed at 1.41xZ0, or 70.7 ohms
for a 50 ohm system. For an input signal Vin, the outputs at ports 2 and 4
(thanks, Tom!) are equal in magnitude, but 180 degrees out of phase.
Rat-race coupler (equal power split)
The coupling of the two arms is shown in the figure below, for an ideal
rat-race coupler centered at 10 GHz (10,000 MHz). An equal power split
of 3 dB occurs at only the center frequency. The 1-dB bandwidth of the
coupled port (S41) is shown by the markers to be 3760 MHz, or 37.6
percent.
Power split of ideal rat-race coupler
The graph below illustrates the impedance match of the same ideal rat-
race coupler, at ports 1 and 4. By symmetry, the impedance match at port
3 is the same as at port 1 (S11=S33). For better than 2.0:1 VSWR (14 dB
return loss), a bandwidth of 4280 MHz (42.8%) is obtained.
Impedance match of ideal rat-race coupler
The next graph shows the isolation between port 1 and port 3 (S31). In
the ideal case, it is infinite at the center frequency. The bandwidth over
which greater than 20 dB isolation is obtained is 3140 MHz, or 31.4%.
Isolation of ideal rat-race coupler
Below the phase difference between arms 2 and 4 is plotted. At the center
frequency. a perfect 180 degree difference is observed. The bandwidth
that better than +/- 10 degrees is maintained is 3200 MHz, or 32%.
Unequal-split rat-race couplers
In order to provide an unequal split, the impedances of the four arms are
varied in pairs, as shown below.
Unequal-split rat-race power divider
Equations for the Z0A and Z0B line impedances, as a function of the power
split PA/PB, are given below:
Z0A and Z0B are graphed below versus the power split express in dB
(coupling ratio) for a 50-0hm system. Click here for info on how to think
in dB.
The graph below shows the frequency response for a rat-race coupler
where PA/PB=0.25. This corresponds to a 50-ohm power divider where
the power out of port 2 (PA) is six dB below the power out of port 4 (PB).
Solving the above equations for the line impedances yields Z0A=111.6
ohms, and Z0B=55.9 ohms. Note that in many real-life cases, this coupler
may prove impractical because a line impedance as high as 111.6 ohms
may be difficult to accurately achieve in a 50-ohm system.
Unequal-split rat-race frequency response, PA/PB=0.25
The graph below shows the frequency response for a rat-race coupler
where PA/PB=4.0. This corresponds to a power divider where the power
out of port 2 (PA)is six dB higher than the power out of port 4 (PB). The
line impedances are opposite to the case where PA/PB=0.25; here
Z0A=55.9 ohms, and Z0B= 111.6 ohms.
Unequal-split rat-race frequency response, PA/PB=4.0
Check out our all-new unequal-split power divider calculator, it handles

Wilkinsons, rat-races and branch-line couplers!
Waveguide Flanges
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CHAPTER 5
LOOPS
Before I began my study of duplexers, the coupling loops in the filters

were the most mysterious part. It was not obvious from the published
designs how one goes about designing them. There seemed to be so many
variations. There were fat loops and thin loops, wire loops and strap
loops, side loops and top loops. Why had the designers made these
choices? Which was best for my designs? I couldn't see any consistency.
That's why I devoted a great deal of time to loops in my early
experiments. That's what we are going to talk about in this chapter.
We'll discuss loop shape. Is that critical? We'll do the same for the
placement of loops in the cavity. Does this require great precision? We'll
also discuss loop materials. How important is that? My intention in
answering these questions will be to take you through the experiments
that gave me the answers. They all add up to a practical picture of loop
design and permformance.
Loop Shape
My first question was, is there a magic shape for a loop? As I mentioned,

I had inspected many duplexers, and the loops came in a baffling veriety.
I wanted to know what effect loop shape has on duplexer performance.
So I built a moderate sized cavity and began to experiment.
Fortunately I had a spectrum analyzer available with a tracking signal

generator. The generator sweeps over an adjustable range of frequencies
and the spectrum analyzer follows it. The result is an instantaneous
display of the performance of a cavity, plotted against frequency.
One of the biggest difficulty one has in studying duplexers is isolating a

single factor of their design. With every experimental adjustment you
make, you usually unwittingly change more than just one thing. After
seeing this phenomenon time and time again, in every duplexer parameter
I studied, it occurred to me that this is probably one of the main reasons
why duplexers are accused of being black magic. Simple intuitive
understanding is difficult to extract.
Loop shape is a perfect example. When I first began making experimental

changes in loop shape, I was changing more than just the shape of the
loop. For examples, two loops of different geometry may have a different
inductance even if you use the same amount of wire. They also have a
different geometric center. Since the magnetic field in the cavity is not
the same everywhere, the two loops would couple differently to the field.
The complete list of differences caused by just one simple change is quite
large.
What I needed was a yardstick for testing, some way to isolate individual
factors, if I was going to arrive at intuitive understanding. As you may
appreciate, it took me some time to find the answer. It is not a perfect
answer -- there isn't one, but it works. It eventually occurred to me that
performance is a good yardstick. I figured that if two loops differing in
only one characteristic were made to perform the same, then the effect of
the single difference would be more visible. I have found that this idea
works well for studying almost any duplexer chactersitic.
To determine the effect of loop shape, I adjusted each pair of different

loops to yield equal bandwidth and equal loss. Both were installed, one at
a time, in the same cavity, in roughly the same position. I tested circular
loops, rectangular loops and loops of irregular shape. What I discovered
was that the shape of the loop makes very little difference, once is is
made equal in performance to another shape.
This led me to see that only the area of the loop matters. To be precise,
coupling is proportional to the square root of the area. But if two loops
have the same area, they will perform almost identically in the cavity
even if their shape and the amount of wire is quite different. This simple
generalization has limits of course, but for practical purposes, loop shape
is not a significant factor in duplexer design. Loop area alone determines
how well a loop will couple to the magnetic field.
Where to Put the Connectors?
Another factor, that I wanted to know about, is where do you put the
connector that feeds the loop? Also what is the best way to ground the
loop?. I had seen a lot of variations in both of these in commercial and
amateur-built duplexers.
Two locations seemed to be common. The connectors were either

installed directly in the shorted end of the cavity or a short distance down
the side wall from the shorted end.
Loop Construction Materials
Next I wanted to know if the size and shape of the conductor in a loop
matters. I knew for example that when used as a transmission line,
conductors of different dimensions have different characteristic
impedances. Is this important in a cavity? Since the loop is fed with a 50
transmission line, perhaps the loop itself had to be constructed to also
look like a 50 ohm line section.
So again, I began experimenting. I tired wires of widely differing

diameters. As before, I adjusted all factors until the performance of each
loop was equal to the others under comparison. I also tried strip
conductors. I had noticed that in some commercial cavities that loops
made of flat strap are used.
After trying all these variations, while keeping performance equal, I came
to the conclusion that conductor size and shape has almost no effect of
loop performance. Ordinary wire is perfectly acceptable. In fact, it is
probably the best choice.
The only factor that does matter in the type of material used in loop
construction is current handling capacity. Notice figure xx. It shows RF
current at corresponding output powers.
1 watt .14 Amps
3 watts .25 Amps
10 watts .44 Amps
30 watts .77 Amps
100 watts 1.4 Amps
300 watts 2.5 Amps
1000 watts 4.4 Amps
Figure xx Current vs. Power at 50 Ohms
These values may not seem high if you think of them in DC terms, but
RF needs much larger conductors due to skin effect. We will go into the
problems caused by skin effect in a later chapter, but as a general
principle here, above about 100 watts, loops should be built with heavy
wire. Below that power level, 16 AWG wire is completely adequate. Flat
strap is not as good a choice. It has worse skin effect problems. It is just a
little easier to bend into loops for cavities used at higher power levels.
Loop Placement
In the last chapter I stated how a loop must be placed to couple most
effectively to the magnetic field. The H field, as you will recall, lies in
concentric circles around the center conductor of the cavity. To couple
best to it, the loop must be perpendicular to the field. This would be
parallel to the length and parallel to the diameter of the cavity.
Also, for maximum coupling a loop needs to be at a point where the

magnetic field is strongest. As we learned, this is near the shorted end of
the cavity near the center conductor. If the loop is moved, or rotated in
any way, coupling will be less.
The question is, does that matter? Must loops always be at a maximum
field spot for the cavity to work well? I spent a lot of time researching
this point, and concluded that the answer is no. Again using performance
as a comparison guide, I experimented with loops at all possible
locations, near the shorted end, away from the shorted end, near the
center conductor, away from the center conductor. I also experimented
with rotated loops.
With every different location, if I merely changed the area of the loop, I
could get it to perform just as well as at any other location. Insertion loss
and bandwidth do not suffer.
Loop Grounding
Armed with the knowledge above of how tolerant loops are, it then came
as no surprise to me to discover that it also does not matterhow or where
you ground a loop. That's probably why you see many variations in
commercial and amateur designs. Three common configurations are: a.
Side of Cavity b. End of Cavity c. To the Connector
As we have learned, only the loop's area matters. For side grounding, a
section of the loop is actually a part of the cavity's wall. The area
contained by the wall and the remainder of the loop performs the
coupling. My personal favorite for loop grounding is to the connector. If
you ground the loop on the body of the connector that feeds the loop, the
loop and the connector become a removable and rotatable assembly. The
convenience of this method makes it a common loop grounding
configuration, even in commercial cavities.
Chapter Summary
Loop shape is not critical. Only the area of the loop determines how
much it will couple to the magnetic field.
The location of the connectors is not critical. The side or the top works
equally well.
Round wire is best for loop construction. 16 AWG is suitable for all
power levels up to 100 watts. Above this, larger wire is needed to handle
the RF current, due to skin effect.
Loop placement is not critical. Equal performance can be obtained from a

wide range of positions in a cavity.
Loop grounding is also not critical. Grounding to the connector is the

most convenient method.
All this leads to a Golden Rule. Nothing about a loop matters

significantly. All you must do is to change the area and orientation of the
loop until it couples to the magnetic field to the desired degree. At this
point it will work almost identically to any other loop configuration.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Directional coupler)

Jump to: navigation, search
Power dividers and directional couplers are passive devices used in the
field of radio technology. They couple part of the transmission power in a
transmission line by a known amount out through another port, often by
using two transmission lines set close enough together such that energy
passing through one is coupled to the other. As shown in Figure 1, the
device has four ports: input, transmitted, coupled, and isolated. The term
"main line" refers to the section between ports 1 and 2. On some
directional couplers, the main line is designed for high power operation
(large connectors), while the coupled port may use a small SMA
connector. Often the isolated port is terminated with an internal or
external matched load (typically 50 ohms). It should be pointed out that
since the directional coupler is a linear device, the notations on Figure 1
are arbitrary. Any port can be the input, (as in Figure 3) which will result
in the directly connected port being the transmitted port, the adjacent port
being the coupled port, and the diagonal port being the isolated port.
Physical considerations such as internal load on the isolated port will

limit port operation. The coupled output from the directional coupler can
be used to obtain the information (i.e., frequency and power level) on the
signal without interrupting the main power flow in the system (except for
a power reduction - see Figure 2). When the power coupled out to port
three is half the input power (i.e. 3 dB below the input power level), the
power on the main transmission line is also 3 dB below the input power
and equals the coupled power. Such a coupler is referred to as a 90 degree
hybrid, hybrid, or 3 dB coupler. The frequency range for coaxial couplers
specified by manufacturers is that of the coupling arm. The main arm
response is much wider (i.e. if the spec is 2-4 GHz, the main arm could
operate at 1 or 5 GHz - see Figure 3). However it should be recognized
that the coupled response is periodic with frequency. For example, a λ/4
coupled line coupler will have responses at nλ/4 where n is an odd
integer.
Common properties desired for all directional couplers are wide

operational bandwidth, high directivity, and a good impedance match at
all ports when the other ports are terminated in matched loads. These
performance characteristics of hybrid or non-hybrid directional couplers
are self-explanatory. Some other general characteristics will be discussed
below.
Contents
[hide]
• 1 Coupling factor
• 2 Loss
• 3 Isolation
• 4 Directivity
• 5 Hybrids
• 6 Amplitude balance
• 7 Phase balance
• 8 Other power dividers
• 9 Power combiners
• 10 Sample Problem
• 11 Low frequency directional couplers
• 12 See also
• 13 External links
• 14 References
[edit] Coupling factor
The coupling factor is defined as:
where P1 is the input power at port 1 and P3 is the output power from the
coupled port (see Figure 1)
The coupling factor represents the primary property of a directional

coupler. Coupling is not constant, but varies with frequency. While
different designs may reduce the variance, a perfectly flat coupler
theoretically cannot be built. Directional couplers are specified in terms
of the coupling accuracy at the frequency band center. For example, a 10
dB coupling +/- 0.5 dB means that the directional coupler can have 9.5
dB to 10.5 dB coupling at the frequency band center. The accuracy is due
to dimensional tolerances that can be held for the spacing of the two
coupled lines. Another coupling specification is frequency sensitivity. A
larger frequency sensitivity will allow a larger frequency band of
operation. Multiple quarter-wavelength coupling sections are used to
obtain wide frequency bandwidth directional couplers. Typically this type
of directional coupler is designed to a frequency bandwidth ratio and a
maximum coupling ripple within the frequency band. For example a
typical 2:1 frequency bandwidth coupler design that produces a 10 dB
coupling with a +/- 0.1 dB ripple would, using the previous accuracy
specification, be said to have 9.6 +/- 0.1 dB to 10.4 +/- 0.1 dB of coupling
across the frequency range.
[edit] Loss
In an ideal directional coupler, the main line loss from port 1 to port 2 (P1
- P2) due to power coupled to the coupled output port is:
The actual directional coupler loss will be a combination of coupling loss,

dielectric loss, conductor loss, and VSWR loss. Depending on the
frequency range, coupling loss becomes less significant above 15 dB
coupling where the other losses constitute the majority of the total loss. A
graph of the theoretical insertion loss (dB) vs coupling (dB) for a
dissipationless coupler is shown in Figure 2.
[edit] Isolation
Isolation of a directional coupler can be defined as the difference in signal

levels in dB between the input port and the isolated port when the two
output ports are terminated by matched loads, or:
Isolation can also be defined between the two output ports. In this case,
one of the output ports is used as the input; the other is considered the
output port while the other two ports (input and isolated) are terminated
by matched loads.
Consequently:
The isolation between the input and the isolated ports may be different
from the isolation between the two output ports. For example, the
isolation between ports 1 and 4 can be 30 dB while the isolation between
ports 2 and 3 can be a different value such as 25 dB. If both isolation
measurements are not available, they can be assumed to be equal. If
neither are available, an estimate of the isolation is the coupling plus
return loss (Standing wave ratio). The isolation should be as high as
possible. In actual couplers the isolated port is never completely isolated.
Some RF power will always be present. Waveguide directional couplers
will have the best isolation.
If isolation is high, directional couplers are excellent for combining
signals to feed a single line to a receiver for two-tone receiver tests. In
Figure 3, one signal enters port P3 and one enters port P2, while both exit
port P1. The signal from port P3 to port P1 will experience 10 dB of loss,
and the signal from port P2 to port P1 will have 0.5 dB loss. The internal
load on the isolated port will dissipate the signal losses from port P3 and
port P2. If the isolators in Figure 3 are neglected, the isolation
measurement (port P2 to port P3) determines the amount of power from
the signal generator F2 that will be injected into the signal generator F1.
As the injection level increases, it may cause modulation of signal
generator F1, or even injection phase locking. Because of the symmetry of
the directional coupler, the reverse injection will happen with the same
possible modulation problems of signal generator F2 by F1. Therefore the
isolators are used in Figure 3 to effectively increase the isolation (or
directivity) of the directional coupler. Consequently the injection loss will
be the isolation of the directional coupler plus the reverse isolation of the
isolator.
[edit] Directivity
Directivity is directly related to isolation. It is defined as:
where: P3 is the output power from the coupled port and P4 is
the power output from the isolated port.
The directivity should be as high as possible. Waveguide directional

couplers will have the best directivity. Directivity is not directly
measurable, and is calculated from the isolation and coupling
measurements as:
Directivity (dB) = Isolation (dB) - Coupling (dB)
[edit] Hybrids
The hybrid coupler, or 3 dB directional coupler, in which the two outputs

are of equal amplitude takes many forms. Not too long ago the quadrature
(90 degree) 3 dB coupler with outputs 90 degrees out of phase was what
came to mind when a hybrid coupler was mentioned. Now any matched
4-port with isolated arms and equal power division is called a hybrid or
hybrid coupler. Today the characterizing feature is the phase difference of
the outputs. If 90 degrees, it is a 90 degree hybrid. If 180 degrees, it is a
180 degree hybrid. Even the Wilkinson power divider which has 0
degrees phase difference is actually a hybrid although the fourth arm is
normally imbedded.
Applications of the hybrid include monopulse comparators, mixers,

power combiners, dividers, modulators, and phased array radar antenna
systems.
[edit] Amplitude balance
This terminology defines the power difference in dB between the two

output ports of a 3 dB hybrid. In an ideal hybrid circuit, the difference
should be 0 dB. However, in a practical device the amplitude balance is
frequency dependent and departs from the ideal 0 dB difference.
[edit] Phase balance
The phase difference between the two output ports of a hybrid coupler
should be 0, 90, or 180 degrees depending on the type used. However,
like amplitude balance, the phase difference is sensitive to the input
frequency and typically will vary a few degrees.
The phase properties of a 90 degree hybrid coupler can be used to great
advantage in microwave circuits. For example in a balanced microwave
amplifier the two input stages are fed through a hybrid coupler. The FET
device normally has a very poor match and reflects much of the incident
energy. However, since the devices are essentially identical the reflection
coefficients from each device are equal. The reflected voltage from the
FETs are in phase at the isolated port and are 180 degrees different at the
input port. Therefore, all of the reflected power from the FETs goes to the
load at the isolated port and no power goes to the input port. This results
in a good input match (low VSWR).
If phase matched lines are used for an antenna input to a 180° hybrid
coupler as shown in Figure 4, a null will occur directly between the
antennas. If you want to receive a signal in that position, you would have
to either change the hybrid type or line length. If you want to reject a
signal from a given direction, or create the difference pattern for a
monopulse radar, this is a good approach.
[edit] Other power dividers
Both in-phase (Wilkinson) and quadrature (90°) hybrid couplers may be

used for coherent power divider applications. The Wilkinson power
divider has low VSWR at all ports and high isolation between output
ports. The input and output impedances at each port are designed to be
equal to the characteristic impedance of the microwave system.
A typical power divider is shown in Figure 5. Ideally, input power would

be divided equally between the output ports. Dividers are made up of
multiple couplers and, like couplers, may be reversed and used as
multiplexers. The drawback is that for a four channel multiplexer, the
output consists of only 1/4 the power from each, and is relatively
inefficient. Lossless multiplexing can only be done with filter networks.
Coherent power division was first accomplished by means of simple Tee

junctions. At microwave frequencies, waveguide tees have two possible
forms - the H-Plane or the E-Plane. These two junctions split power
equally, but because of the different field configurations at the junction,
the electric fields at the output arms are in-phase for the H-Plane tee and
are anti-phase for the E-Plane tee. The combination of these two tees to
form a hybrid tee allowed the realization of a four-port component which
could perform the vector sum (Σ) and difference (Δ) of two coherent
microwave signals. This device is known as the magic tee.
[edit] Power combiners
Since hybrid circuits are bi-directional, they can be used to split up a

signal to feed multiple low power amplifiers, then recombine to feed a
single antenna with high power as shown in Figure 6.
This approach allows the use of numerous less expensive and lower
power amplifiers in the circuitry instead of a single high power TWT. Yet
another approach is to have each solid state amplifier (SSA) feed an
antenna and let the power be combined in space or be used to feed a lens
which is attached to an antenna. (See [1])
[edit] Sample Problem
If two 1 watt peak unmodulated RF carrier signals at 10 GHz are

received, how much peak power could one measure?
1. 0 watts
2. 0.5 watts
3. 1 watt
4. 2 watts
5. All of these
The answer is all of these as shown in Figure 7.
[edit] Low frequency directional couplers
For lower frequencies a compact broadband implementation by means of

unidirectional couplers (transformers) is possible. In the figure a circuit is
shown which is meant for weak coupling and can be understood along
these lines: A signal is coming in one line pair. One transformer reduces
the voltage of the signal the other reduces the current. Therefore the
impedance is matched. The same argument holds for every other
direction of a signal through the coupler. The relative sign of the induced
voltage and current determines the direction of the outgoing signal.
For a 3 dB coupling, that is equal splitting of the signal, another view
might be more appropriate: Two of the line pairs are combined into a
polyphase line. A polyphase_transformer can be used to redistribute the
signal onto a set of 45° rotated lines.
Although many wavemeters are used in performing various functions, the

cavity-type wavemeter is the type most commonly used. Only this type is
discussed in some detail.
Cavity Wavemeter Figure 2-12 shows a typical CAVITY

WAVEMETER. The wavemeter is of the type commonly used for the
measurement of microwave frequencies. The device uses a resonant
cavity. The resonant frequency of the cavity is varied by means of a
plunger, which is mechanically connected to a micrometer mechanism.
Movement of the plunger into the cavity reduces the cavity size and
increases the resonant frequency. Conversely, an increase in the size of
the cavity (made by withdrawing the plunger) lowers the resonant
frequency. The microwave energy from the equipment being tested is fed
into the wavemeter through one of two inputs, A or B. The crystal
rectifier then detects (rectifies) the signal. The rectified current is
indicated on current meter
M.
Figure 2-12.—Typical cavity wavemeter.
Electronic Frequency Counters Another device used to measure

frequencies above the audio range is the ELECTRONIC FREQUENCY
COUNTER. Since this instrument will be covered in detail in a later
chapter, only a brief description is provided at this time. The electronic
frequency counter is a high-speed electronic counter with an accurate,
crystal- controlled time base. This combination provides a frequency
counter that automatically counts and displays the number of events
occurring in a precise time interval. The frequency counter itself does not
generate any signal; it merely counts the recurring pulses fed to it.
Transmission Line
There appears to be some controversy, disagreement, or lack of

understanding surrounding the term "transmission line". While most
engineers familiar with transmission lines understand two-conductor
transmission lines are fed differentially at one end by a source and have a
termination placed differentially across the far end, a few seem to
disagree.
Let's go through this and see if we can sort transmission line mode
operation from other forms of energy transfer parallel or concentric
conductors can sustain.
Conventional Use of Transmission Line
We all know a traditional transmission line system appears like this:
Fig 1.
In each of these cases, the line will not radiate or contain substantial
electric or magnetic fields external to the line area. The lack of external
fields, even at a very small distances, is rooted in two conditions:
1.) All outgoing currents on one conductor are matched by equal

level and exactly opposite phase currents on a return conductor at
any given point along the line. This causes an exactly equal and
opposite magnetic field along each conductor. The opposing magnetic
fields caused by equal currents flowing opposite directions cancel
magnetic fields outside the general area of the two conductors.
2.) All voltages from each conductor of the line to the outside
environment surrounding the line are either contained within a
closed shield, or are exactly equal and opposite an imaginary neutral
reference point representing the environment around the line
(balanced lines). We always have a constant differential voltage across
the line (between the conductors) and that voltage changes only with
standing wave ratio as we move along the line.
3.) The vector product of differential current flowing in conductors

and voltage between line conductors at any point along the line
always equals the power transmitted in transmission line mode.
(Number two and three above are very important. They indicate a TEM
wave. To understand it think about how your rig connects to your
feedline. Everyone knows the alternating current coming from our radios
has voltage across the output jack. At any instant of time when energy is
being transferred to the load ((except when zero is being crossed)) the
voltage polarity of the two conductors is of opposite signs. Except for
zero crossing or when the transmitter is off the potential difference is
always there, and the vector product of voltage across the line and current
flowing through the line always equals applied power.)
The conditions above are required to support energy flow through a

transmission line. That mode is called TEM mode, or transverse
electromagnetic mode. All two conductor transmission lines, either
coaxial or balanced, transfer energy down the line by TEM mode.
Here is what Edward Jordan and Keith Balmain say about TEM mode
operation of transmission lines in the classic Prentice-Hall Electrical
Engineering Series textbook "Electromagnetic Waves and Radiating
Systems":
To make a long story short, classic transmission line theory (called
"ordinary transmission line theory" in the text above) requires the wave to
be launched from one end of the two parallel conductors forming our
transmission line. If we do not do that, we simply have two parallel
conductors magnetically and electrically coupled. Energy will not be
confined to the "transmission line", and can radiate out into the
surroundings freely. This is a very important distinction when dealing
with feedlines and antennas! In transmission line mode (transverse
electromagnetic mode) we can sleeve the line with ferrites and properties
inside the line do not change. The electrical length does not change,
losses do not change, and the frequency response is very wide as it is with
any transmission line of similar design. This occurs because energy in a
two-conductor transmission line is transferred via TEM mode; fields are
confined to the general area between the conductors. Things outside that
energy path, such as ferrite beads, metallic conduit, and other conductors
or cables do not affect TEM mode or transmission line mode energy
flowing through the transmission line. Except for very low levels caused
by slight flaws in the lines, signals don't leak in and signals don't leak out
when we have a transmission line operated in transmission line mode.
Balance
Unbalanced lines (coaxial cables) actually have equal and opposite

currents in the shield and center conductor at any place along the
transmission line. So do balanced lines. This leaves us with a question.
What makes one line or system balanced and the other unbalanced?
Currents behave the same way and are always balanced in a properly
working transmission line, its source, or its load regardless of line type,
so what's the difference?
The thing separating balanced from unbalanced lines or systems,

including antenna feedpoints, is voltage from each conductor or terminal
with respect to a physical or imaginary reference point representing the
world around the source, feedline, or load. In the case where the feedline
does not radiate both systems have equal and opposite currents at every
point. These points include the source, the entire length of transmission
line, and the load. It is the voltage that actually makes sources or loads
"balanced" or "unbalanced", and the containment of fields inside a shield
that causes a coaxial transmission line to be considered "unbalanced".
Common Mode Excitation
We can make a transmission line become a conventional radiating

conductor if we apply energy in a non-TEM mode. This can be useful
when we wish to use a feedline as an antenna or as a conventional
conductor. When we excite a cable like this:
or like this:
The cable freely radiates. Things outside the line influence the line.
Adding a ferrite core will add loss and make the line electrically longer.
The SWR will change. This is true even when currents are equal in the
two conductors, and can even be true when currents are equal and
opposite as long as the line was excited from end-to-end!
The key to having a line behave like a transmission line is feeding it

differentially at one end, and not applying voltage across the length of
one or both conductors.
This is a transmission line as we generally know it, and as dozens of

reputable engineering textbooks define it:
The above configuration shows a direct wire connection from source to
load, and cannot transform voltage, current, or impedance based on turns
ratio. This fits the definition of classic transmission line, which requires
TEM mode in coaxial or parallel wire lines. Jordan and Balmain cover
this extensively in "Electromagnetic Waves and Radiating Systems"
(Guided Waves, p215, 2nd ed). Kraus also covers this in "Antennas" in
various sections dealing with transmission lines and wave propagation, as
does Terman in his "Radio Engineers Handbook" Circuit Theory chapter
under the subheading "Transmission Lines".
Most engineering text I have clearly state parallel conductor transmission

lines employ TEM mode of energy transfer. If not, they are not
considered transmission lines.
Cutoff frequencies
Waveguide can support many modes of transmission. All

microwave textbooks will tell you about this, but we don't really
care. The usual mode of transmission in rectangular waveguide is
called TE01. The lower cutoff wavelength (and frequency) for this
mode is very simply:
The upper cutoff frequency is exactly one octave above the lower.
We'll let you do the math on this (multiply lower cutoff frequency
by two...) now it's time for another Microwaves101 rule of thumb:
Waveguide operating band
The accepted limits of operation for rectangular waveguide are

(approximately) between 125% and 189% of the lower cutoff
frequency. Thus for WR-90, the cut-off is 6.557 GHz, and the
accepted band of operation is 8.2 to 12.4 GHz. Remember, at the
lower cutoff the guide simply stops working. See our page on
waveguide loss for more information.
Guide wavelength
Guide wavelength is defined as the distance between two equal

phase planes along the waveguide. The guide wavelength is a
function of operating wavelength (or frequency) and the lower
cutoff wavelength, and is always longer than the wavelength would
be in free-space. Here's the equation for guide wavelength:
Guide wavelength is used when you design distributed structures in

waveguide. For example, if you are making a PIN diode switch with
two shunt diodes spaces 3/4 wavelength apart, use the 3/4 of a guide
wavelength in your design.
The guide wavelength in waveguide is longer than wavelength in

free space. This isn't intuitive, it seems like the dielectric constant in
waveguide must be less than unity for this to happen... don't think
about this too hard you will get a headache.
Here is a way to imagine why this is... picture yourself at Zuma

Beach in Malibu. The waves are coming in at an angle to the
beach.... check out the intersection of the wavefront with the beach,
it is zipping along faster than you can run... yes, it's apparently faster
than the waves are moving if you look straight at them. Maybe it's
time for us all to go to the beach and check this out... send us an
good mpg video of this and we'll send you $100!
Phase velocity and group velocity
Phase velocity is an almost useless piece of information you'll find

in waveguide mathematics; here you multiply frequency times guide
wavelength, and come up with a number that exceeds the speed of
light!
Be assured that the energy in your wave is not exceeding the speed
of light, because it travels at what is called the group velocity of the
waveguide:
The group velocity is always less than the speed of light, we like to
think of that this is because the EM wave is ping-ponging back and
forth as it travels down the guide. Note that group velocity x phase
velocity = c2.
Group velocity in a waveguide is speed at which EM energy travels

in the guide. Plotted below as a percentage of the speed of light (c),
we see how group velocity varies across the band for WR-90 (X-
band) waveguide. Note that the recommended operating band of
WR-90 is from 8.2 to 12.4 GHz. At 8.2 GHz the signal is slowed to
60% of the free-space speed of light. At the lower cutoff (6.56
GHz), the wave is slowed to zero, and you can outrun it without
breathing hard.
Group delay in waveguide
Click here to check out our page on group delay!
Now that we know the group velocity, we can calculate the group
delay of any piece of waveguide, noting that time is distance divided
by velocity:
The group delay of rectangular waveguide components is a function

of the frequency you are applying. Near the lower cutoff, the group
delay gets longer and longer, as the EM wave ping-pongs down the
guide, and can easily be 10X the free-space group delay. But at the
upper end of a waveguide's band, the group delay approaches the
free-space group delay, which follows the rule-of-thumb,
approximately one foot per nanosecond, independent of frequency.
To compare with the one nanosecond/foot rule of thumb, below is a

plot of the group delay of one foot of WR-90 waveguide. At the
upper end of the band you will see that very nearly the free-space
group delay is achieved.
The problem of electromagnetic energy traveling at different speeds

over frequency is commonly called dispersion. Soon we will have a
page on this topic as well.
Frequency meters
Updated June 18, 2006
Click here to go to our page on historic test equipment
Click here to go to our main page on test equipment

Click here to go to our main page on waveguide
Click here to go to our page on resonant cavities
Frequency meters, also called "wavemeters", are what your grandparents

used to determine the frequency of an unknown signal source. Sometimes
called "gumball machines", (thanks, John!) now frequency meters just
take up space in one of the lab cabinets that no one opens. Engineers will
fight tooth and nail to get the $100,000 spectrum analyzer in their setup.
But you can obtain similar accuracy with a frequency meter, and if you
use one in your next setup, people will think you really know what you
are doing. And they'll probably ask "where do you plug it in?"
Here's one we saw on Ebay recently, it probably sold for $10 or less. In
this case the frequency meter is for X-band, and uses WR-90 waveguide.
The scale reads out in MHz.
How does a frequency meter work? The cylindrical cavity forms a

resonator that produces a suck-out in the frequency response of the unit.
This you would turn the knob until a dip in the response is observed. The
graduations will tell you what frequency you are at.
Waveguide frequency meters use a short circuit resonant cavity, which

resonates at half-wavelength. Most wavemeters are waveguide, however,
coaxial types are possible. Waveguide wavemeters can only measure
frequency over their respective frequency band.
Here is a view of the above wavemeter taken apart. You can see the hole
in the E-plane that couples out to the cavity. At the bottom of the cavity is
the piston that changes the resonant frequency.
Wavemeters are affected by temperature changes, which slightly change

the dimensions of the cavity.
This page is about waveguides for electromagnetic wave propagation at

microwave and radio wave frequencies. For optical waveguides, see
Waveguide (optics). For other types of waveguide, see Waveguide.
In electromagnetics and communications engineering, the term

waveguide may refer to any linear structure that guides electromagnetic
waves. However, the original and most common meaning is a hollow
metal pipe used for this purpose.
A dielectric waveguide employs a solid dielectric rod rather than a

hollow pipe. An optical fibre is a dielectric guide designed to work at
optical frequencies. Transmission lines such as microstrip, coplanar
waveguide, stripline or coax may also be considered to be waveguides.
The electromagnetic waves in (metal-pipe) waveguide may be imagined

as travelling down the guide in a zig-zag path, being repeatedly reflected
between opposite walls of the guide. For the particular case of
rectangular waveguide, it is possible to base an exact analysis on this
view. Propagation in dielectric waveguide, may be viewed in the same
way, with the waves confined to the dielectric by total internal reflection
at its surface. Some structures, such as nonradiative dielectric waveguide
[NRD], and the Goubau line, use both metal walls and dielectric surfaces
to confine the wave.
Short length of rectangular waveguide (WG17

with UBR120 connection-flanges)
Section of flexible
waveguide
Contents
[hide]
• 1 History
• 2 Principles of operation
• 3 Analysis
• 4 Hollow metallic waveguides
• 5 Dielectric rods for microwaves
• 6 Applications
• 7 See also
• 8 References
• 9 Further reading
• 10 External links
[edit] History
The first waveguide was proposed by J. J. Thomson in 1893 and

experimentally verified by O. J. Lodge in 1894; the mathematical
analysis of the propagating modes within a hollow metal cylinder was
first performed by Lord Rayleigh in 1897. (McLachan, 1947.)
[edit] Principles of operation
Depending on the frequency, waveguides can be constructed from either

conductive or dielectric materials. Generally, the lower the frequency to
be passed the larger the waveguide is. For example the natural
waveguide[1] the earth forms given by the dimensions between the
conductive Ionosphere and the ground as well as the circumference at the
median altitude of the earth is resonant at 7.83 Hz. This is also known as
Schumann resonance. Waveguides can also be less than a millimeter in
width. An example might be those that are used in extremely high
frequency (EHF) Satellite Communications(SATCOM). There is a
formula for calculating waveguide dimensions, more information may be
found at this website[2].
[edit] Analysis
Electromagnetic waveguides are analyzed by solving Maxwell's

equations, or their reduced form, the electromagnetic wave equation, with
boundary conditions determined by the properties of the materials and
their interfaces. These equations have multiple solutions, or modes,
which are eigenfunctions of the equation system. Each mode is therefore
characterized by an eigenvalue, which corresponds to the axial
propagation velocity of the wave in the guide.
Waveguide propagation modes depend on the operating wavelength and

polarization and the shape and size of the guide. The longitudinal mode
of a waveguide is a particular standing wave pattern formed by waves
confined in the cavity. The transverse modes are classified into different
types:
• TE modes (Transverse Electric) have no electric field in the

direction of propagation.
• TM modes (Transverse Magnetic) have no magnetic field in the
direction of propagation.
• TEM modes (Transverse ElectroMagnetic) have no electric nor
magnetic field in the direction of propagation.
• Hybrid modes are those which have both electric and magnetic
field components in the direction of propagation.
In hollow metallic waveguides, the fundamental modes are derived from

the transverse electric TE1,0 mode for rectangular and TE1,1 for circular
waveguides. Also, in hollow waveguides, TEM waves are not possible,
since Maxwell's Equations will give that the electric field must then have
zero divergence and zero curl and be equal to zero at boundaries,
resulting in a zero field. (or, equivalently, with boundary conditions
guaranteeing only the trivial solution). However, TEM waves can
propagate in coaxial cable.
TE1,0 mode of a rectangular hollow TE1,1 mode of a circular hollow

metallic waveguide. metallic waveguide.
[edit] Hollow metallic waveguides
In the microwave region of the electromagnetic spectrum, a waveguide

normally consists of a hollow metallic conductor. Hollow waveguides
must be one-half wavelength or more in diameter in order to support one
or more transverse wave modes.
Waveguides are often pressurized to inhibit arcing/multipaction, allowing

higher power. Conversely, waveguides may be required to be evacuated
as part of evacuated systems. (e.g. electron beam systems)
A slotted waveguide is generally used for radar and other similar

applications. The waveguide structure has the capability of confining and
supporting the energy of an electromagnetic wave to a specific relatively
narrow and controllable path.
A closed waveguide is an electromagnetic waveguide (a) that is tubular,

usually with a circular or rectangular cross section, (b) that has
electrically conducting walls, (c) that may be hollow or filled with a
dielectric material, (d) that can support a large number of discrete
propagating modes, though only a few may be practical, (e) in which each
discrete mode defines the propagation constant for that mode, (f) in
which the field at any point is describable in terms of the supported
modes, (g) in which there is no radiation field, and (h) in which
discontinuities and bends cause mode conversion but not radiation.
Hollow metallic waveguides are far narrower than the wavelength of

operation. They can take the form of single conductors with or without a
dielectric coating, e.g. the Goubou line and helical waveguides.
VSWR measurements may be taken to ensure that a waveguide is
contiguous and has no leaks or sharp bends. If such bends or holes in the
waveguide surface are present, this may diminish the performance of both
TX and RX equipment strings. Arcing may occur if there is a hole, if
transmitting at high power, usually 200 watts or more. Waveguide
plumbing[3] is crucial for proper waveguide performance. Reflected
power may occur and damage equipment as well. Another cause for a bad
VSWR in a waveguide is moisture build up and can typically be
prevented with silica gel which is a desiccant. Due to the negative effect
of moisture buildup within the waveguide desiccant silica gel canisters
may attached with screw-on nibs.
[edit] Dielectric rods for microwaves
Dielectric rod waveguides, in linear arrays of short transverse conductors,

and planar resistive conductors use the same principle as optical
waveguides.
These function via a refractive index effect where the waveguide slows
the EM wave velocity below the free space velocity, continuously
bending the relatively wide EM wavefronts towards the narrow
waveguide and keeping them entrained. Helical waveguides and linear
arrays of short conductors are used as part of "end-fire" antennas such as
the helical antenna and Yagi antenna. Planar resistive waveguides are
used in Over-The-Horizon radar and the Ground Wave Emergency
Network, where the resistive surface of the Earth or ocean serves to slow
the waves below free space velocity; entraining them and forcing them to
follow the curvature of the Earth. Several waveguides based on
entrainment of EM waves also exist.
[edit] Applications
Waveguides can be constructed to carry waves over a wide portion of the

electromagnetic spectrum, but are especially useful in the microwave and
optical frequency ranges. Waveguides are used for transferring both
power and communication signals, usually for short distances. Bell Labs
in the 1970s built a waveguide line several miles long, to study possible
use for intercity communication, but advances in optical fiber disrupted
the plan.
2-6 Figure 2-3.—Moving electron losing energy and velocity.
The operation of a velocity-modulated tube depends on a change in the
velocity of the electrons passing through its electrostatic field. A change
in electron velocity causes the tube to produce BUNCHES of electrons.
These bunches are separated by spaces in which there are relatively few
electrons. Velocity modulation is then defined as that variation in the
velocity of a beam of electrons caused by the alternate speeding up and
slowing down of the electrons in the beam. This variation is usually
caused by a voltage signal applied between the grids through which the
beam must pass. The first requirement in obtaining velocity modulation is
to produce a stream of electrons which are all traveling at the same speed.
The electron stream is produced by an electron gun. A simplified version
of an electron gun is shown in figure 2-4A. Electrons emitted from the
cathode are attracted toward the positive accelerator grid and all but a few
of the electrons pass through the grid and form a beam. The electron
beam then passes through a pair of closely spaced grids, called
BUNCHER GRIDS. Each grid is connected to one side of a tuned circuit.
The parallel-resonant tuned circuit (figure 2-4A) in the illustration
represents the doughnut-shaped resonant cavity surrounding the electron
stream (figure 2-4B). The buncher grids are the dashed lines at the center
of the cavity and are at the same dc potential as the accelerator grid. The
alternating voltage which exists across the resonant circuit causes the
velocity of the electrons leaving the buncher grids to differ from the
velocity of the electrons arriving at the buncher grids. The amount of
difference depends on the strength and direction of the electrostatic field
within the resonant cavity as the electrons pass through the grids.
Fi gure 2-4A.—
Electron gun with buncher grids.
Velocity Modulation The microwave tube was developed when the use of the frequency spectrum
went beyond 1,000 megahertz and into the microwave range. The microwave tube uses transit time in
the conversion of dc power to radio-frequency (rf) power. The interchange of power is accomplished
by using the principle of electron VELOCITY MODULATION and low-loss resonant cavities in the
microwave tube. A clear understanding of microwave tubes must start with an understanding of how
electrons and electric fields interact. An electron has mass and thus exhibits kinetic energy when in
motion. The amount of kinetic energy in an electron is directly proportional to its velocity; that is, the
higher the velocity, the higher the energy level. The basic concept of the electron energy level being
directly related to electron velocity is the key principle of energy transfer and amplification in
microwave tubes. An electron can be accelerated or decelerated by an electrostatic field. Figure 2-2
shows an electron moving in an electrostatic field. The direction of travel (shown by the heavy arrow)
is against the electrostatic lines of force which are from positive to negative. The negatively charged
electron will be attracted to the positively charged body and will increase in velocity. As its velocity
increases, the energy level of the electron will also increase. Where does the electron acquire its
additional energy? The only logical source is from the electrostatic field. Thus, the conclusion is clear.
An electron traveling in a direction opposite to electrostatic lines of force will absorb energy and
increase in velocity (accelerate).
Figure 2-2.—Moving electron gaining velocity and energy.
As figure 2-3 illustrates, the opposite condition is also true. An electron traveling in the same direction
as the electrostatic lines of force will decelerate by giving up energy to the field. The negatively
charged body will repel the electron and cause it to decrease in velocity. When the velocity is reduced,
the energy level is also reduced. The energy lost by the electron is gained by the electrostatic field.
What makes a microwave engineer?
First off, let's remind everyone that microwave electronics are by

and large an analog science, as opposed to most other electrical
engineering, which has mostly gone digital. We think of analog as
real life, and digital as the "reality TV" of electronics. No one really
listens to digital music or sees digital television, your senses are
analog. Digital communications must be carried on an analog radio
signal. Analog engineering will never go away.
If we had to summarize what sets a microwave engineer apart from

a "normal" electrical engineer, we'd say that knowledge of just a few
simple concepts is required to fit in with microwave geeks. These
are S-parameters, the Smith chart, decibels, transmission lines
(including waveguide, which really isn't a transmission line but
performs the same function) and skin depth. Notice that we didn't
mention antennas, because we consider that almost a separate
subject from microwave engineering! The funny thing is that you
can be expert on all of these without any advanced math or even a
college education, but without a college degree it will be difficult to
ever land a job as an engineer in this industry. Here's a great list of
colleges that offer education in microwave engineering!
You'll learn about all of these concepts and more, starting here on
this page. Thankfully, there is a ton of electronic design analysis
software out there that does all of the heavy lifting for you.
Here's a Microwaves101 piece of advice: if you want to succeed in

this field (or any other) the most important thing is to love your
work. Nothing trumps enthusiasm, not even large brains. If you
don't find microwaves particularly interesting, go do something else.
If you don't find any type of work interesting, join a trade union, buy
some four-wheeled off road vehicles so you can share a "sport" with
your fat kids, drink lots of beer and watch more television while the
rest of us invent the future. And don't forget to complain about
everything, especially during your impoverished retirement years!
What about out-sourcing?

Will the U.S. microwave industry be devastated by outsourcing to
India, like the IT industry? We don't think so, for two reasons. A vast
part of the microwave industry is related to defense work and
infrastructure (think towers). Outsourcing these would make as
much sense as outsourcing your local fire department.
The second reason is that third-world countries picked the IT

industry to grab because it doesn't take near the level of investment
that developing hardware does, and quality problems will kill your
business. Below is a picture of a simple wrench the "Pittsburgh
Forge" outsourced to India. The results speak for themselves, that is
why you should buy Craftsman (made in America) tools!
The microwave industry
Microwaves components and systems are a multi-10-billion dollar

industry, how's that for a vague data point? The design community
is small, perhaps only about 50,000 to 100,000 people in the US
consider themselves in the microwave field (this estimate is based
on observed attendance at the annual IEEE IMS symposium,
factored for how many of us have to stay home and do real work).
What are the "big three" applications of microwaves in everyday

life?
• Heating
• Remote sensing and countermeasures
• Communications
Heating applications
Here's a page on microwave use of heating.
Remote sensing and countermeasures applications

The most well-known remote sensing systems are radars (radio
direction and ranging), which use a transmitter to illuminate an
object, and a receiver to detect its position or velocity (or both).
Another class of remote sensing is radiometry. Radiometric systems

need no transmitter, they merely collect naturally-occurring
electromagnetic energy and process its to form images. Terahertz
radiometric receivers will soon be employed as security systems in
airports, provided that the ACLU will permit us all to be seen in the
nude by quarter-inch-brow security guards. Another excellent
example of remote sensing is the new "T-ray" imaging being done at
terahertz frequencies, by companies such as Teraview.
Radio astronomy uses uses huge dishes to capture incredibly weak

RF signals from space to reconstruct the origins of the universe
starting with the big bang. We now have a page on this topic!
Let's lump in global-positioning systems into remote sensing,

because a GPS unit "senses" where it is.
Countermeasures to remote sensing include all types of jamming

equipment, usually associated with military applications. Interested
in electronic countermeasures? Consider becoming an Old Crow!
We will also lump RFID in as a use of microwaves to perform

sensing.
Communications applications
Communications systems include satellite, radio, television, wireless

phone and data transmission applications, and all combinations of
these. We'll get into these later... or sooner, if someone sends us
some material!
Medical applications
Here's a page on medical applications of microwaves.
The fifth application?
Directed energy weapons will eventually make up a new category of

microwave applications. This includes the Pentagon's new pain ray,
as well as high-power microwave (HPM) systems that can be used to
defeat weapons such as missiles and even disable ground vehicles
(with the exception of diesel engines which have no ignition
system).
Here's some great info on the pain ray from wired.com, in case you
wanted to know about its effects on dogs, sunblock, and drunks!
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,72134-0.html?
tw=rss.index
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,72236-0.html?
tw=rss.index
Speaking of using microwaves as a weapon, here's a page on the

biological effects of electromagnetic radiation. Relax and enjoy your
microwaved popcorn!
The sixth application?
RF lighting is a relatively new topic for microwave engineering. The

sulfur lamp uses a 2.45 GHz magnetron to excite sulfur to give up
an eye-pleasing spectrum of light. We've started a page on this
topic here.
Military versus commercial applications
We often divide microwave technology based on commercial or

military/aerospace applications. The mix of people in microwaves is
roughly half in commercial applications, and half in
military/aerospace. Everyone knows that people who work in
military/aerospace microwaves generally are more manly than their
commercial brothers.
Commercial applications of microwave technology include the front-

end of much of the wireless stuff you use everyday, such as cell
phones, pagers, wireless LANs, satellite television, XM Radio, and
that cool GPS playtoy you received on Father's Day. Unfortunately
the boom years of commercial microwave technology seem to be
behind us, as the telecom infrastructure was overbuilt, while
competition drove the price of wireless phone services into
unprofitable territory. Who knows, videophone and Bluetooth tricks
may eventually bring some real money back to this industry.
Doesn't everyone want to be able to buy a pack of gum from a
vending machine by clicking a few buttons on their cell phone? You
can do this in Finland right now thanks to Nokia! We're not holding
our breath for a lot of new gadgets to take hold here in the USA, the
Second Bush Recession still has two more years to go.
Military, aerospace applications probably account for more research

dollars than commercial stuff. It's arguably a lot more fun to work in
this arena, where cost is often NOT as big a consideration as
performance. How would you rather spend your career, with a team
of 100 engineers trying to shave the cost of a $20 cell phone by one
buck in six weeks, or with a team of four engineers designing a
million-dollar electronic warfare pod in six years?
Perhaps the coolest microwave development programs are
sponsored by DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency. Here's a page that reviews some of their current work.
Here's a separate page that discusses MIL-Specs for microwave

hardware.
If you want to get into the U. S. defense industry, chances are your
employer will need to get you a security clearance, granted from the
Defense Security Agency (DSS). This takes some time (perhaps six
months), and if you were born outside the country, or have been
convicted of a crime, or have declared bankruptcy, it might be
better to rethink your career choice. Although the DSS might ask
you to sign something that will permit them to use a polygraph to
check out your background, we've never heard of it being used.
They will certainly ask you if you have used illegal drugs, but
chances are they will overlook your use of weed during college, or
the defense industry would lose 47% of all candidates. They don't
care about your sexual orientation, and won't ask about your
religious preference.
Publishing the results of research for defense work has the added
restriction of the International Traffic in Arms (ITAR) regulations.
The microwave frequency spectrum
So what's a microwave? There is some controversy about the exact

frequency limits. We define it as an electromagnetic wave between
300 MHz and 300 GHz, in agreement with Pozar's Microwave
Engineering, which allows microwave engineers as broad a stake as
possible in the EM spectrum. Below 300 MHz is called very high
frequency (VHF, thanks, Chris!), above 300 GHz you are into the
sub-millimeter-wave spectrum. Terahertz frequency means 1012
cycles per second, approaching infrared radiation. Yikes!
Here's a separate Microwaves101 page that provides a table of

frequencies used by different systems, such as police radar, XM
radio, automotive radar, etc. Check it out!
Speaking of frequencies, you will often encounter frequency-band

letter designations within the microwave field. Although the letter
bands are considered obsolete, you should memorize some of the
more common designators (such as the IEEE standards shown
below) if you ever want to be a Microwave Good-old Boy.
Frequency letter bands
This info has been moved to a separate page!

Millimeter-waves versus microwaves
The following distinction between millimeter-waves and microwaves

is almost universally accepted: frequencies with free-space
wavelengths less than one centimeter but greater than one
millimeter are referred to as millimeter-waves. Thus, the millimeter-
wave spectrum starts at 30 GHz, and runs to 300 GHz, where the
wavelength in free-space is less than one millimeter. Welcome to
the sub-millimeter-wave band, you are on your way to infrared
radiation and terahertz frequencies.
Some microwave engineers have a fear of millimeterwaves, thinking

that solving problems is harder at higher frequency. This is irrational
thinking, millimeter-wave hardware requires nothing new, the
components are just smaller. Let's illustrate the concept by
comparing the rock group Kiss, versus the midget tribute band Tiny
Kiss:
Kiss Tiny Kiss
Yes, they serve the same purpose, but one is smaller. The details
are all there, even the guy who plays Chaim Witz (a.k.a, everyone's
favorite band member. Gene Simmons) is the tallest. Got it?
Bandwidth
Bandwidth is a measure of how much spectrum your microwave

system can respond to. Bandwidth is often given in megahertz or
gigahertz, calculated from from a low frequency FL to an high
frequency FH, the bandwidth is given by (FU-FL). Bandwidth is
expressed a number of other ways, which we will define here:
Three-dB bandwidth: for a network that has a non-ideal frequency

response (which includes all physical networks), the three-dB
bandwidth is where the transmission coefficient S21 falls off from its
highest peak by three dB. Similarly, you could describe a network by
its two-dB or one-dB bandwidths.
Percentage bandwidth: for a system that works from a low

frequency FL to an high frequency FH, the percentage bandwidth is
given by 100%x(FH-FL)/FC. FC is the center frequency, equal to
(FH+FL)/2. Note that it is possible to have more than 100%
bandwidth by this definition; an amplifier that works from 100 MHz
to 10 GHz has a bandwidth of 200%.
Instantaneous bandwidth: this is a measure of how wide a

spectrum a system can respond to, without any type tuning. Using
the analogy of radio, the IF bandwidth in an American FM receiver is
about 200 kHz, which is necessary to pass the full spectrum of a
broadcast FM signal. The demodulator processes this bandwidth to
obtain the approximately 18 kHz baseband bandwidth. The
"despreading" effect of this processing results in the superior signal
to noise ratio enjoyed by FM transmission. (Thanks for the
correction, Miles!)
Tunable bandwidth: tunable bandwidth is a measure of how wide

a spectrum a system can respond to with the user allowed to
change settings such as local oscillator frequency. For a receiver,
the tunable bandwidth is almost always more than the
instantaneous bandwidth. An AM radio has a tunable bandwidth of
540 kHz to 1600 kHz, or over one MHz of bandwidth. This is about
100X its instantaneous bandwidth.
What does octave bandwidth mean? It implies that the the upper
frequency of operation is double the lower frequency of operation,
for example, an amplifier that works from 2 to 4 GHz has one octave
bandwidth. The origin of the word octave goes back to music theory,
where an octave is an interval of eight notes in the major scale. For
reference, the interval from middle C to high C on a piano is an
octave; high C is double the audio frequency of middle C.
A device with an octave bandwidth always has 67% bandwidth (do

the math for homework!)
Frequency conversion
A fundamental problem in electromagnetics is that for a signal to be

radiated into free space, an antenna must be on the order of 1/10 or
more of a wavelength. Thus transmitting voice without some type of
upconversion would require a 30 kilometer antenna for a 10 kHz
signal! Thus, baseband signals need to ride on carrier waves, which
are at RF and microwave frequencies. Mixers are the devices that
are used to convert from one frequency to another. Upconversion
means you are increasing the frequency of your signal, and
downconversion means you are decreasing it.
Harmonic frequencies
A harmonic frequency is 2X, 3X, 4X, etc. the frequency of a signal.

Why is it called a harmonic? Because in music, harmonic
frequencies of 2X, 3X, 4X sound good together (they are
harmonious, like the Del Vikings). 2X and 4X frequencies are
octaves, 3X is an octave plus a perfect fifth.
A subharmonic frequency is one that is 1/2, 1/3, 1/4 of a signal.
Transmission lines and characteristic impedance
When your done looking at the paragraph below, check out our page
on characteristic impedance!
What is a transmission line? Here's our definition: it's any

conducting structure that supports an electromagnetic wave "in
captivity". Most transmission lines use two conductors, where one is
considered ground. This includes coax (the outer conductor is
ground), microstrip and stripline. The transmission line that does not
use a pair of conductors is waveguide. By the way, we are talking
about lossless transmission lines here, or at least near-lossless. We
have an entire chapter devoted to transmission lines, click here and
we'll take you there.
What's a "substrate?" It is the insulating material that support the

the transmission lines. In microstrip and stripline, the substrate is
the dielectric slab onto which the strip conductors and groundplanes
are plated and etched.
When microwave engineers talk about a "fifty-ohm system", what

does that mean? A common misconception is that if you placed an
ohmmeter across the ground and conductor of a fifty-ohm coax
cable, you would always read 50 ohms. This is not the case, here's
what we're talking about: transmission lines have two important
properties that depend on their geometry, their inductance per unit
length, and their capacitance per unit length. The "characteristic
impedance" of a system is calculated from the ratio of these two:
Z=sqrt(L'/C')
where L' is the inductance per unit length and C' is the capacitance
per unit length. Note that higher inductance translates to higher
impedance, and higher capacitance translates to lower impedance.
Notice also that the units of length don't matter, since they are "lost
in the sauce". The units of inductance and capacitance must be self-
consistent, such as pico-henries/foot and pico-farads/foot.
How do you know the inductance and capacitance per unit length of
a particular transmission line? Who cares, when this has all been
calculated for you about a million times already and plenty of
software exists that will calculate it for you. The thing you should
care about is what parameters within a transmission line geometry
control the relative capacitance and inductance per unit length, so
you get a feeling for what controls the impedance.
Let's start with coax cable. The inductance per unit length is mainly
attributed to the diameter of the center conductor. Decrease this
diameter (keeping everything else the same) and you will increase
the inductance. This also raises the characteristic impedance,
referring to the equation above. Filling the cable with a material of
higher relative dielectric raises the unit capacitance, and lowers the
line impedance.
Another example: microstrip. Here unit capacitance and inductance

are inexorably linked together; widening the microstrip line
decreases its inductance while it increases it capacitance. Hence,
wide lines are always lower in impedance than narrow lines for a
given substrate height. As with coax, the dielectric constant of the
substrate has a big effect on capacitance; using a higher dielectric
substrate will yield a lower impedance line, all other things being
equal. So it is important not to mix up your Rogers Duroid materials,
once your circuit is etched it is pretty hard to judge the dielectric
constant from color and texture alone!
Why fifty ohms?
Now moved to a separate page for more in-depth discussion!
Impedance of free space
The exact characteristic impedance of free space is 120 ohms,

which is approximately 377 ohms. Why? This is explained (or should
be) on our page on characteristic impedance.
Impedance matching
Impedance matching of source and load is important to get

maximum power transfer. If you have a 75 ohm load, you don't want
to drive it with a 50 ohm source, because it is inefficient. You can
learn more about the simple math behind maximum power transfer
by clicking here.
Simple impedance transformation can be done using quarterwave
transformers. Click here to go to our main page on quarter-wave
tricks!
Dielectric constant and effective dielectric constant
"Dielectric constant" is another way to say "relative permittivity".

Check out our separate page on permittivity for more info on this
subject. Although some people use the phrase "relative dielectric
constant", this is incorrect, akin to saying "deja vu again".
Remember back to your physics class, when you learned that

dielectric constant is used to calculate the value of a capacitor? The
higher the dielectric constant, the higher the capacitor value. For an
ideal parallel plate capacitor, the capacitance is calculated by:
C=( 0x R xA)/D
where 0 is the permittivity of free space (thanks, Maarten!), R is

the relative permittivity (the dielectric constant) of the material
between the plates, A is the area of the parallel plates, and D is the
distance they are separated. Technically for this expression to be
100% accurate, the material surrounding the plates must be of the
same relative dielectric constant R, but this induces only a small
error in the calculation under most circumstances. 0 is equal to
8.854x10-12 Farads per meter (you should commit this to memory).
Most often it is the dielectric constant R that is most important in
microwaves.
For electromagnetic radiation, the permittivity of the medium that

the wave is propagating in is equal to R 0. In a vacuum or in dry air,
R is equal to unity, and the signal travels at the speed of light. All
electromagnetic energy, from 60 Hertz power that your electric
company sells you, to signals that the latest Mars satellite returns to
earth, travels really, really fast. In a vacuum, the speed of light,
denoted "c" in textbooks, is 2.998 x 1010 centimeters/second
(thanks, Jared!) , or 2.998 x 108 meters per second, or about
186,000 miles per second, which puts the moon about 1.5 seconds
away by radio.
The dielectric constant of a material can be used to quantify how

much a material "slows" an electromagnetic signal. The velocity of
the signal within any transmission line that is 100% filled with a
material of dielectric constant R is computed by:
v=c/sqrt( R )
So if your stripline or coax transmission line is fabricated on a

material with dielectric constant 2.2, the velocity of propagation is
only 67% of the speed of light in free space. Similarly, because
wavelength is proportional to velocity, the length of a quarter-wave
transformer is also 67% of what it would be in free space. Thus one
of the tricks of reducing the size of microwave components is
revealed; by using materials of higher dielectric constant,
distributed structures can be made smaller. One of the advantages
of using GaAs for microwave ICs (known in the industry as MMICs) is
its dielectric constant of 12.9, which is appreciably higher than
ceramics such as alumina, and most soft substrates.
A very good rule of thumb is that electromagnetic radiation in

free space travels about one foot in one nanosecond; a more exact
value is 0.983571 feet per nanosecond. This slows to about 8 inches
per nanosecond for coax cables filled with PTFE (almost all coax
cables are filled with PTFE, or a combination of PTFE and air.) For
more information please see our discussion of group delay.
This brings us to the subject of "effective dielectric constant". In

transmission lines realized in microstrip media, most of the electric
fields are constrained within the substrate, but a fraction of the total
energy exists within the air above the board. The effective dielectric
constant takes this into account. The effective dielectric constant of
a fifty-ohm transmission line on ten mil alumina is a number
somewhere around 7, which is less than the dielectric constant of
the substrate bulk material (9.8). Another example of an effective
dielectric constant is if you were to create a stripline circuit using
two sheets of substrates with different dielectric constants. To a first
order, the effective dielectric constant would be the average of the
two materials' dielectric constants. A third example is coplanar
waveguide transmission lines with air above the substrate. Here the
effective dielectric constant is very nearly the average of the
substrate dielectric constant and one (the dielectric constant of
air=1). Thus the effective dielectric constant of CPW circuits on
GaAs ( R=12.9) is approximately 6.5.
How to think in dB
Every time you talk to a microwave engineer it's dB-this and dB-
that. What are they talking about? A decibel is a convenient
logarithmic ratio of two RF power or RF voltage levels (usually input
and output levels). If you are asking "why are logarithmic ratios
convenient?", you are too young to have owned a slide rule. The
beautiful thing about log ratios is that multiplication of "linear"
numbers becomes addition, and division becomes subtraction.
The conversion of linear ratios to dB is:

10xlog(power level2/power level1), or
20xlog(voltage level2/voltage level1)
Bear in mind that in microwaves we are most often referring to

power levels, not voltage levels. That's because microwave signals
are usually measured in milliwatts, not millivolts. You can easily
convert from power to voltage and vice-versa if you know the
system characteristic impedance (usually 50 ohms).
Decibels are very useful for talking about increases (gains) or

decreases (losses) without talking about the actual power or voltage
levels. Remember, though, that dB by itself isn't a unit like
millimeters or inch, it's all relative. A negative number of dB
indicates loss or reduction in signal strength, while a positive
number indicates gain or increase in signal strength. When you refer
to a loss in dB, it is customary to eliminate the negative sign. For
example, a ten-dB attenuator has 10 dB loss, while it has -10 dB
gain. By the way, the decibel is actually a tenth of a Bel, a unit
named after (you guessed it) Alexander Graham himself!
You'll also see the term dBm in the field of microwaves (decibels
referenced to milliwatts), or sometimes dBW (decibels referenced to
watts). This is simply the same logarithmic calculation but instead of
comparing two power levels to each
other, you are comparing one power level to 1 milliwatt. 10 dBm is

the same at 10 mW, 20 dBm is the same as 100 mw, 30 dBm is the
same as 1000 mw (or one watt).
How do you "think" in decibels compared to linear units? Just

remember a few key conversions and you will be all set to impress
your friends with quick approximations of some heavy multiplication
and division (that is, if they are easily impressed). By the way, we
rounded these off so they will be easier to remember, if you need an
exact answer, get a calculator!
30 dB is an increase of 1000X in power
2 dB is an increase of 1.6X in power

1 dB is an increase of 1.25X in power
0 dB is no increase or decrease in power
-1 dB is a decrease of 20% in power
-2 dB is a decrease of 37% in power (roughly a decrease of 1/3)
-30 dB is a decrease of 99.9% in power
When you input a 5 milliwatt signal into a power amplifier that has
12 dB of gain, the output is 80mW. You can easily do the math in
your head. Break down the 12 dB into 6 dB + 6 dB, and remember
that each 6 dB increases power by 4X, so you have an increase of
16X ( equal to 4x4). Sixteen times five is eighty.
Let's try a harder laboratory calculation. Your signal source has an

adjustable power output from 0 to 27 dBm (one milliwatt to half a
watt). You have an isolator on the source output (always a good
idea) with one dB loss. Then you are coupling off a sample of the
signal through a ten dB coupler, attenuating it with a six dB pad
before reading the signal strength in decibels with a power meter.
The "through" port of the coupler is known to have one dB of loss
with respect to its input port, and your device under test (DUT)
resides right on the output port of the coupler. When Power meter A
reads 6 dBm, how much power does the DUT see?
Working backwards from the "known" power (Power meter A), you
have 17 dB loss between it and the source (the 6 dB pad, the 10 dB
coupler, and the isolator at one dB). Therefore the source is
generating a power of 23 dBm, which is 200 milliwatts (remember
that 20 dBm is 100 milliwatts, and you are 3 dB above that). Then
working toward the DUT, you have two dB loss total (one dB in the
isolator, one dB in the coupler), so the DUT sees 21 dBm, or 15 dB
higher than the power meter reading. 21 dBm is 25% more than 100
milliwatts, or 125 milliwatts. Note that once you know the 15 dB
difference between the DUT and the power meter, you can apply it
to any power meter reading A; this is your calibration factor for
input power.
With a little practice you will be able to do decibel calculations in

your sleep, it's easier than balancing your checkbook. For
homework, try the previous calculation using "normal" math... let's
see, the pad loses 75% of the signal power, the coupler loses
another 90% on top of that and the circulator loses another 10%...
forget about it!
Lumped elements versus distributed elements
Click here to go to our main page on lumped elements.
When the behavior of a resistor, capacitor, or inductor can be fully

described by a simple linear equation, microwave engineers refer to
it as a lumped element. For example, a 50-ohm resistor at low
frequencies will obey Ohm's law (V=IxR). Put five volts across it and
it will draw 100 milliamps of current. "Lumped elementhood" is
restricted to components that are operate at frequencies where
they are physically much smaller than a quarter-wavelength. For
example, axial-leaded components perform well up to 10s of MHz,
but at one GHz, chances are that an axial-leaded resistor is closer to
an open circuit, or a lousy inductor, rather than an ideal resistor.
This is why you will rarely be asked the resistor color code as a
microwave engineer!
At microwave frequencies, other factors must be considered. To

accurately calculate the behavior of that same 50-ohm resistor, you
need to consider its length, width, and thickness of metal (due to
the skin effect), and its proximity to the ground plane. This is when
we must consider it as a distributed element.
By designing really tiny parts, you can often consider them lumped
elements, even at microwave frequencies. You must keep the
critical dimensions (such as length and width of a thin-film resistor)
small compared to an electrical quarter wavelength. For example, if
you are designing a 50 ohm microstrip load resistor at X-band, on an
alumina substrate (dielectric constant 9.8), a quarter wavelength is
approximately 120 mils. You'd better keep both the length and
width of the resistor to less than 40 mils, or you else you have to
spend some time with a EDA simulation tool such as Agilent ADS or
Eagleware Genesis evaluating the performance. Where else but
microwave engineering can you make a project out of designing a
stupid fifty-ohm resistor?!
Yet another rule of thumb: to be considered a "lumped

element", no feature of the structure can exceed 1/10 of a
wavelength at the maximum frequency of it usage.
At low frequencies, the metal that connects components together is

treated as an ideal connection, with no loss, no characteristic
impedance, and no transmission phase angle. When interconnects
become an appreciable fraction of the signal wavelength, these
interconnections themselves must be treated as distributed
elements or transmission lines. An extreme example of the need to
consider the distributed properties of transmission lines is when we
are dealing with a quarter-wavelength. At this electrical length (90
degrees), an open circuit is transformed to a short circuit, and a
short-circuit is transformed to an open circuit! Think about this: a
short-circuited 90 degree "stub" hanging in shunt off of a
transmission line will be invisible to signals propagating down the
the transmission line, while an open circuited 90 degree stub
shunting a transmission line will cause a short circuit and the
propagating signal will get hosed! A whole lot of microwave
engineering exploits this concept, so you'd better understand it.
One "classic" distributed element is the quarter-wave transformer
(we've written an entire chapter on this and other quarterwave
tricks! The quarterwave transformer is used to shift the impedance
of a circuit by the following simple formula:
Z2=sqrt(Z0ZL)
where Z2 is the characteristic impedance of the transformer, ZL is

the load impedance, and Z0 is the characteristic impedance of the
system you are trying to maintain. Do you detect a pattern? Most of
the equations on this page use the square-root function... perhaps
they put that button on your Casio calculator for a reason!
VSWR and return loss

Click here to go to a more detailed discussion of this topic.
VSWR stands for voltage standing wave ratio. It is a measure of how

well a network is matched to it's intended characteristic impedance
(Z0), which is almost always 50 ohms in microwave engineering.
Return loss is just another way to express the same thing. Both are
used in microwave engineering, that's just to keep you on your toes.
VSWR dates back to the days when a "standing wave meter" was an
important piece of lab equipment. Long before you could buy s
network analyzer for measuring how well a part is impedance
matched, the standing wave meter was used by engineers to
evaluate the same problem. A small probe was inserted into a
waveguide, the output of which was rectified, producing a current or
voltage proportional to the electric field with the waveguide. The
engineer would pull the probe longitudinally along the waveguide, in
search of local maxima and minima readings. These are due to the
standing wave within the transmission line. The ratio of the
maximum to the minimum voltage recorded was known as the
voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR). To this day VSWR is often used
to quantify how well a part is impedance matched. Always
expressed as a ratio to unity, a VSWR of 1.0:1 indicates perfection
(there is no standing wave). A VSWR of 2:1 means the maxima are
twice the voltage of the minima. A high VSWR such as 10:1 usually
indicates you have a problem, such as a near open or near short
circuit.

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Circulators and isolators

Circulators and isolators

Updated December 18, 2005

Why are circulators and isolators relatively expensive in the world of

A circulator is a ferrite device (ferrite is a class of materials with strange

The selection of ports is arbitrary, and circulators can be made to

A circulator is sometimes called a "duplexer", meaning that is duplexes

Circulator rule of thumb!

A circulator's isolation is roughly equal to its return loss, and

By terminating one port, a circulator becomes an isolator, which has the

Circulators and isolators can be made from 100's of MHz to through W-

A really cool type of circulator is a switchable circulator, in which an

Got any good material on circulators and isolators? drop us a line, we

Revised February 21, 2006

Click here to go to our main page on couplers and splitters

Click here to go to our page on magic tees (a waveguide network with

Applications of rat-race couplers are numerous, and include mixers and

Power split of ideal rat-race coupler

Isolation of ideal rat-race coupler

Unequal-split rat-race power divider

Unequal-split rat-race frequency response, PA/PB=4.0

Check out our all-new unequal-split power divider calculator, it handles

PENN ENGINEERING stocks the west coasts largest inventory of

We also design and manufacture Custom Flanges to customer

We also carry a line of O-rings, Gaskets, RF Flange Gaskets, and

IL-W- Non- Commercial Flang

Before I began my study of duplexers, the coupling loops in the filters

My first question was, is there a magic shape for a loop? As I mentioned,

Fortunately I had a spectrum analyzer available with a tracking signal

One of the biggest difficulty one has in studying duplexers is isolating a

Loop shape is a perfect example. When I first began making experimental

To determine the effect of loop shape, I adjusted each pair of different

Where to Put the Connectors?

Two locations seemed to be common. The connectors were either

Loop Construction Materials

So again, I began experimenting. I tired wires of widely differing

Figure xx Current vs. Power at 50 Ohms

Also, for maximum coupling a loop needs to be at a point where the

Loop placement is not critical. Equal performance can be obtained from a

Loop grounding is also not critical. Grounding to the connector is the

All this leads to a Golden Rule. Nothing about a loop matters

(Redirected from Directional coupler)

Physical considerations such as internal load on the isolated port will

Common properties desired for all directional couplers are wide

[edit] Coupling factor

The coupling factor is defined as:

The coupling factor represents the primary property of a directional

The actual directional coupler loss will be a combination of coupling loss,

Isolation of a directional coupler can be defined as the difference in signal

Directivity is directly related to isolation. It is defined as:

where: P3 is the output power from the coupled port and P4 is

the power output from the isolated port.

The directivity should be as high as possible. Waveguide directional

The hybrid coupler, or 3 dB directional coupler, in which the two outputs

Applications of the hybrid include monopulse comparators, mixers,

[edit] Amplitude balance

This terminology defines the power difference in dB between the two

[edit] Phase balance

[edit] Other power dividers

Both in-phase (Wilkinson) and quadrature (90°) hybrid couplers may be

A typical power divider is shown in Figure 5. Ideally, input power would