Frequency (GHz)

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

33.81

This work was conducted under EPSRC Contracts No.

GR/J40171 and No. GR/K03951, and under IRTU Contract
No. ST120. The circuits used were fabricated by Philips
Microwave Limeil.

Lower

33.8

33.75

1.5

2.5

3.5

Bias

Figure 4 Upper and lower injection-locking frequency limits versus

dc operating bias

REFERENCES
1, R. S. Robertson, A Phase Modulator with Gain for Microwave
Millimeter-Wave Systems, IEEE MTT-S Digest, 1990, pp. 921.
2. S. Drew and V. F. Fusco, Phase Modulated Active Antenna,
Electron. Lett., Vol. 29, No. 10, May 1993, pp. 835-836.
3. V. F. Fusco, S. Drew, Active Antenna Phase Modulator Performance, Proc. 23rd European Microwave Conference, 1993.
4. R. Adler, A Study of Locking Phenomena in Oscillators, Proc.
I.R.E., Vol. 34, 1946, pp. 351-357.
5. K. Kurokawa, Injection Locking of Microwave Solid-state Oscillators, Proc. IEEE, Vol. 61, No. 10, Oct. 1973, pp. 1386-1410.
Received 2-29-96

Phase
120

II-GZ

Microwave and Optical Technology Letters, 12/5, 249-2.50

0 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

CCC 0895-2477/96

l80
oo

BIas
Figure 5 Phase variation (normahed) versus dc operating bias

dc bias levels (drain voltage from 1.5 to 3.0 V, gate voltage set
to a constant 0.0 V) with the sweeper output power set to 10
dBm ( - 20 dBm injected signal power). The upper and lower
locking range frequencies were noted and plotted against dc
operating bias in Figure 4. From the graph of Figure 4, a
suitable injection locking frequency of 33.785 GHz was chosen for the phase shift measurement. This gives a dc operating bias range from 2.55 to 2.95 V. The phase, relative to the
injection-locking signal, was measured with the MTA, and the
results are plotted in Figure 5 . These results are normalized
with the result at 2.4 V set to 0.. A total phase variation of
104was obtained.
When the experiment was repeated for a sweeper output
power of 5 dBm (-25 dBm injected signal power). The
injection-locking frequency chosen for the phase shift experiment was 33.780 GHz corresponding to a dc operating range
from 2.4 to 2.7 V. This time a total phase variation of 85was
obtained, lower this time than the previous case due to the
reduction in locking range experienced by virtue of a lower
level injected power level.
CONCLUSIONS

This article has shown that direct phase modulation of a

Ka-band signal is possible with the use of a PHEMT MMIC
oscillator. The results obtained indicate that approximately
100of phase change can be obtained with an injected signal
power level of approximately -20 dBm. If a higher locking
gain was used this phase range could be extended, suggesting
the possible use of the technique for high-data-rate bandwidth conservative signal modulation.

250

ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE
PROPAGATION THROUGH A
DIELECTRIC GUIDE HAVING PlET HElN
CROSS-SECTIONAL GEOMETRY
Vandana Misra
Department of Applied Physics
Institute of Technology
Banaras Hindu Universlty(1)
Varanasi-221005, India
P. K. Choudhury
Department of Electronics Engineering, Institute of Technology
Banaras Hindu University Varanasi-221005 lndla
P. Khastgir and S. P. Ojha
Department of Applied Physics
lnstitute of Technology
Banaras Hindu University
Varanasi-221005 India

KEY TERMS
Optical waveguides, electromagnetic wave propagation
ABSTRACT
This article deals with a new type of dielectric guide, which has as its
cross-sectional outline a Piet Hein curve. With the use of the scalarfield
approximation, eigenvalue equations for cutoffs have been derived for
modes with different indices. Numerical results exhibit that the cutoff
V ualue for the dielectricguide with Piet Hein cross-sectionalgeomet~is
intermediate between those of similar guides with square and circular
cross sections; therefore, such a guide incorporates the properties of both
square and circular waveguides. A study of these guides is adunntageous
because of the absence of comers, which reduces the scattering losses in
rectangular dielectric waveguides. 0 1996 John Wilq & Sons, Inc.
1. INTRODUCTION

In an attempt to find a closed curve that incorporates the

properties of a rectangle and an ellipse, Danish scientist Piet
Hein thought of a superellipse, which is known as a Piet Hein
curve (Figure 1) 111. In rectangular coordinates, such a curve

MICROWAVE AND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY LEUERS / Vol. 12, No. 5, August 5 1996

ies on the propagated power have also been made [19-211.

The present study of optical waveguides with a Piet Hein
cross section belongs to this wider field of waveguides with
noncircular cross section.

fY

2. THEORY

After some tedious but rigorous mathematical analysis, it can

be shown that the wave equation in the coordinate system
(p,s, z ) (the z axis being the direction of propagation perpendicular to the plane of paper as shown in Figure 2) for a
structure having Piet Hein geometry (Figure 1) emerges as

+
Figure 1 The Piet Hein Curve x N

+T
P (p4 + 5 4 Y 2 { (

+ y N = aN for N = 4

p4

+ 54)-1/2

can be represented by the formula

Ix/alN + ly/blN = 1,

with N > 2.

The quantities a and b are the semimajor and semiminor

axes of the curves. If N < 2, the curves are known as Lam6
curves [2].
Because rectangular dielectric waveguides have been extensively studied for use in optical devices, and circular
dielectric waveguides are commonly employed in fiber-optic
communications [3-51, a waveguide with a cross section that
is midway between the circle and rectangle naturally becomes
interesting as a subject for study. A waveguide with a Piet
Hein cross section is an example of the situation. The undesirable effects of the presence of corners in rectangular
waveguides (such as scattering) are not expected to occur in
the case of waveguides with Piet Hein cross sections.
In this article we report an analytical study of the modal
and especially the cutoff properties for sustained modes in
waveguides with Piet Hein cross sections under the scalar
field approximation [6]. As will be seen later, even in this
preliminary study, the encouraging result of the modal cutoff
values lying midway between those of waveguides with circular and rectangular cross sections is obtained.
Although the optical fiber is obviously the key ingredient
in a communication system as a channel, the dielectric rectangular waveguide is used in optical devices and in integrated
optics [3-51. Optical and optoelectronic devices are used in
the transmitting and receiving parts of communication systems also. The transmitting properties of an optical waveguide essentially depend on its cross-sectional geometry; noncircular guides are particularly used in the detection of signals.
Optical waveguides with noncircular cross sections have
been extensively studied. Some of the geometries considered
so far are polygonal (including triangular) and elliptical cross
sections [7-121. Slab waveguides and rectangular dielectric
waveguides are now well established in the field of integrated
optics. Various aspects of slab waveguides with transverse
bending and distortions have been studied by Choudhury and
co-workers [13-181. In addition to modal characteristics, stud-

with

In this equation

i,h

is the wave function and n, p, and k are

MICROWAVE AND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY LETTERS / Vol. 12, No. 5, August 5 1996

251

the refractive index (of the material), the axial component of

the propagation vector (which is perpendicular to the paper)
and the free-space propagation constant, respectively. The
coordinate transformation equations are

x=

the cladding regions (Figure 11,will take the following forms:

/,

[ijjjsi+Jm)2-454)1/2

-( t 2+ \/(pd+501}]1/2,
z

z.

where B1= n:k2 - p2, Bz= p 2 - nIk2, el = (cfi)'IZ/2,

x = 'iF1/p2,and C(&) is the cosine integral function of

6.

Now two cases can be considered:

Now, by applying the scalar field approximation, the wave

functions and their first derivatives are matched at the corecladding boundary ( p = a), yielding the eigenvalue equation
for the structure as follows:

Case I: p << (, in the corner region of the structure.

Case 11: p % 5, in the region away from the corners.
As the structure of Figure 1 deviates from the rectangular
structure owing to the absence of sharp curvatures (discontinuities) in the corner regions, it is rather important to solve
the wave equation in the corner regions rather than in the
central region. Thus, by applying the approximation p -=K6,
Eq. (1) reduces to the form

+ ( n 2 k 2 - p 2 ) p 6 $ = 0 , (2)
which can be rewritten after separating the variables in the
form as

with c as a constant that represents the modal index. At this

point it is to be noted that the equation containing the
variable 5 is not of relevance in our study, as it does not
contain the parameter p, the axial component of the propagation vector.
We shall now consider two conditions
Condition I. As n2k2 - /3 e c / p 6 , the above Eq. (3) can be
reduced to the form

-*

d2@ 3 dJr c f i
7+ - - +
dP
PdP
P6

0.

This equation is a form of the Bessel equation. After some

straightforward mathematical steps, it can be shown that the
solution of Eq. (41, that is, the wave functions in the core and

252

-92/Ug1/a
t ysin d
x x

(4)

The solutions of Eq. (6) provide the propagation constants of

various field patterns sustained by the guide. Solving this
equation under the limit s2
+ 0, one can get the cutoff

MICROWAVE AND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY LEVERS / Vol. 12, No. 5, August 5 1996

condition for the guided modes, which is as follows

i
3

-0.a
-1.2

-1.

-1.81

0.0

Condition 11. In this case Eq. (3) is solved under the approxi-

mation c

-+ 0,

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0
V-

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

Figure 3 Plot of F,, F,, and F against V

and finally, the solution is obtained as follows:

+ 46bf({

- -c.iz
9 6 / [ / e d p ] d p

720

d p d p = F2 = 0.

(9)

for the guided modes.

3. DISCUSSION

--93-

120

1
144

Equation (8) is the field solution in the core and the cladding
regions under the following conditions:

= ( f i ( n : k Z - p2))/ = b 1
(i). for the core region 9
(say) and W = J
(ii). for the cladding region 9 = (fi(pz - n:k2))1/2 =
b, (say) and W = H.
Here J and H represent a Bessel function of the first kind
and a Hankel function of the first kind, respectively. Again
following the same steps as discussed above (Condition I),
field matching at the core cladding boundary will lead the
characteristic eigenvalue equation, which, when solved under
the limiting condition b, -+ 0, will provide the cutoff equation as

As stated earlier, the present article is addressed to the

problem of electromagnetic wave propagation through a
waveguide with a Piet Hein cross section. Equation (1) is thus
essentially the solution to the problem and contains, in principle, all the information regarding the electromagnetic wave
through such waveguides. Considering the great complexity
of the analytical process, it is desirable to make suitable and
physically plausible approximations. We focus our attention
on the region of propagation close to the smooth bends at the
four corners of the cross-sectional curve. Even in this particular region of propagation, we consider two conditions. In
Condition I we assume that c is very large so that n2k2 - p z
<< c / p 6 . For such modes with large c values we have the
characteristic equation (6). In Condition I1 we can consider
the modes corresponding to very small values of c, in particular c = 0, whereby we obtain a lengthy characteristic equation that is not explicitly shown in this text. In order to have
an understanding of the modal propagation, it is more convenient to consider the cutoff condition. The cutoff conditions
corresponding to the above described Conditions I and I1 are,
respectively, shown as Eqs. (7) and (9).
We now come to some numerical computation made on
the basis of Eqs. (7) and (9). Figure 3 shows the plots of F,
and F, against the normalized frequency V parameter at
cutoff corresponding, respectively, to the above described
Conditions I and 11, that is, the cases with large and small
values of the mode index c, Fl and F2 are the abbreviations
for the left-hand sides of Eqs. (7) and (91, respectively. The
normalized frequency V parameter at cutoff is given as

MICROWAVE AND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY LElTERS / Vol. 12, No. 5, August 5 1996

253

In order to compare our results with that of a guide having a

circular cross-sectional geometry, a curve that represents the
plot of the Bessel function .TI(.) is also shown. It is well
known that the zeros of these functions represent the cutoff
values for a circular optical waveguide under the scalar wave
approximation. In Figure 3 this variation is designated by the
symbol F.
In Figure 3 one observes that for Condition I, that is,
modes with higher values of c, the curve crosses the horizontal axis at V = 2 showing the first cutoff V value at this
point. For Condition I1 (with lower values of c) modes show
their first cutoff at V = 2.7. All these calculations are made
by taking n, = 1.51, n, = 1.48, the operating wavelength
A = 1.55 pm, and the core dimension a = 5 pm. We thus
see that as the V parameter is increased, the modes corresponding to larger values of c get detached first (at V = 21,
and the modes corresponding to the smaller values of c (such
as zero) do not get cut off until V reaches the value 2.7. We
also notice that the cutoff values V = 2 and I/ = 2.7 for large
and small c values are both less than the cutoff V value for
the standard circular fiber (V = 3.8) under the weak guidance
approximation.
Coming to waveguides with rectangular cross sections, we
may refer to the earlier published work of Kumar, Thyagarajan, and Ghatak [22]. It is reported there that a waveguide
having rectangular cross section with unit aspect ratio (i.e.,
square cross section) exhibits the first cutoff of E , , mode at
I/ = 0.6. Further, the first cutoff for the El, or E,, mode
occurs at V = 1.45. The incorporation of corrections through
the first-order perturbation theory further reduces the V
values.
We thus find that under the weak guidance approximation
the cutoff V values for the lowest mode other than the
fundamental mode (which has a cutoff value at V = 0, i.e., no
cutoff at all) are in decreasing order as one goes from the
circular to the square cross section. The Piet Hein cross
section gives a cutoff V value that is intermediate between
those of the circular and the square cross sections. Thus, we
come to the important conclusion that the behavior of the
Piet Hein cross section in firers gives us the scope for
combining the properties of a waveguide with a square cross
section and those of a standard circular fiber. This result is,
as expected, an outcome of the shape of the Piet hein curve
that incorporates the properties of a square and a circle by
eliminating the comers and retaining the fourfold symmetry.
The absence of the corners will reduce the scattering losses,
and the square shape of the cross section is expected to make
these Piet hein guides more amenable to technological use in
integrated optics.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

One of the authors, P. K. Choudhury, is grateful to Professors B. N. Basu and s. K. Kak for some useful discussions.
Also, the authors are thankful to P. K. Shukla and P. Kala for
some help. They are indebted to two anonymous reviewers
for their deep and thorough investigation, which improved
the quality of the article.
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254

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Modal Propagation Analysis of a Waveguide with a Regular
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Boundaries, Microwave Opt. Technol. Lett., Vol. 8, 1995, pp.
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Received 1-3-96;revised 4-4-96
Microwave and Optical Technology Letters, 12/5, 250-254
0 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
CCC 0895-2477/96

MICROWAVE AND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY LETTERS / Vol. 12, No. 5, August 5 1996