InternationalJournalof Infraredand MillimeterWaves, VoL 14, No.

10, 1993

FREQUENCY-DEPENDENT CHARACTERISTICS OF
T H I C K M I C R O S T R I P L I N E S IN L O S S Y
MULTILAYERED DIELECTRIC MEDIA

J. R. Souza

Center for Telecommunication Studies-CETUC

Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro-PUC/Rio
Rua Marques de Sao Vicente, 225
22453-900 Rio de Janeiro-Rl, Brazil

Received August 27, 1993

ABSTRACT

The Spectral Domain Approach (SDA) is used for a rigorous full-wave analysis
of thick microstrip lines embedded in Iossy multilayered dielectric media. The
effects of the conductor thickness on the propagation constant and
characteristic impedance are investigated.

1. INTRODUCTION

Microstrip lines in multilayered dielectrics are of interest for monolithic

microwave and millimetre wave integrated circuits. The design of such circuits
requires accurate modelling of the transmission line characteristics, which
should include effects of the strip thickness and material losses. The Spectral
Domain Approach has proven to be an efficient computation tool, and has been
extensively used for the analysis of planar transmission lines with zero
thickness metallization. Later, its application to transmission lines with thick
metallization has also been considered, mainly for slot lines 1, finlines 2, and
coplanar waveguides z. Recently, an approximate SDA analysis of moderately
thick microstrip lines was presented 4, in which the thick strip was described by a
two-level current distribution. This paper presents a rigorous SDA analysis of
thick micros!rip lines, including the possibility to consider Iossy, multi-layered
substrates, as well as Iossy ground planes, and is based on an SDA solution
developed earlier for zero thickness microstrip lines ~.

2. FORMULATION

The microstrip line to be considered is shown in Fig. 1. The lossy dielectric

layers of the substrate are represented by the relative dielectric constant (er)
and conductivity (~) or loss tangent (tgS). The shielding and the strip are

2243
0195-9271/93/1000-2243507-00./0 1993PlenumPublishingCorporation
2244 Souza

hN2
8r=l, 0-=0
~rN+l" ON+1
I 2,,W I
~ t=hN. I
SrN,0-N ]'}N

"h2
8r.2, ~2
Or1 , 0-1 h1

2a
Figure 1 Thick microstrip line on Iossy, multilayered dielectric substrate.

assumed to be loss free. The hybrid field is described by a superposition of TEy

and TMy modes, which are represented by vector potentials qJ" and ~ e ,
respectively:
- h,e
V = ay q)",e(x, y). exp(-jJ3z) (1)

In the substrate layers and in the air-layer above the strip, all the potentials
and field components are Fourier transformed in the x-direction. As shielded
microstrip lines are considered, a discrete Fourier Transform is used.

The transform and its inverse are define, respectively, as:

q; (c~,, y) =S_cp(x,y). eJ~.Xdx, q}(x, y) = 2-2;.=-~cp((zn, y)e -j'"" (2)

where the parameter % is chosen so that the boundary conditions at the side
walls are satisfied. For the fundamental microstrip mode, c% = (2n + 1)12a.

Next, the formulation developed in reference [5] is used to obtain a relation

between the Fourier Transform of the x- and z-components of the magnetic
and electric fields at Y=YN and at Y-YN t , where YN=hl+h2+...+hN.
-- .i.

Let 15xL, I~zL, I~lxL..... H,u represent the Fourier Transform of the x- and
z-components of the electric and magnetic field at Y=YN" (subscript L), and at
y=yN+t (subscript U). Then the following relation is obtained ~, where
expressions for the elements of the matrices [yL.u] will be gine later on:
Thick Microstrip 2245

If::
I:'YLUI (3)

In the layer besides the thick strip (W<x<a, and yN<y<yN+t), the vector
potentials are written as:
- h,e 1 ~o ^ h,e
~Y (x,y,z) =ay ~'~oq)k (y)exp(-jl3z) (4)

^ h~e
where 2g=a-W, and q)k (Y) are cosine and sine transforms given, for x>O, by:

~Pk
^"
W
i
(Y) = q)"(x,y)cos[~k(a- x)]dx (5.1)

q)k (Y) = q)e(x,y)sin[~k(a-x)]dx , ~k = k~/2g (5.2)

W

For x<0, the transforms are deduced by symmetry. The transformed potentials
are written in terms of the transformed x- and z- components of the electric
field at y=yN and at y=yN+t". A relation between the transformed x- and
z-components of the magnetic and electric fields at y=yN and at y=yN+t" is then
obtained:

Ezu
= [yT]. jE,u (6)
EzL
jHxL j;%,
Expressions for the elements of the matrix [yT] will be given later on.

At this point, all the boundary conditions have been enforced, with the
exception of those at y=y, and at y=yN+t, which require the continuity of the x-
and z-components of the electric and magnetic field.

Let Ep~(X,y), Hp~(x,y) represent the p-component (p=x, z) of the electric and
magnetic field in the i-th dielectric layer (i=N, N+I, N+2), respectively. Now, let
Epu and EpL represent the p-component of electric field (p=x, z) along the
apertures at y=y. and at y=yN+t, respectively.

For W<x<a, the boundary conditions at the apertures can then be represented
as:
2246 So~.a

EpN+2(X,YN + t ) = EpN.I(X, YN +t) = Epu(X, YN +t)

HpN+2(X, yN + t ) = HpNl(X, YN + t )
, p=x,z (7)
EpN+I (X, YN) = EpN(X, yN) = EpL(X, YN)
HpN+I(X, yN) = HpN(X, yN)

In the present case. it is more convenient to expand the electric field

components along the apertures at y=yN+t and Y=YN (Epu, EpL, p=x, Z) in terms
of suitable basis functions, instead of expanding the current density on the
strip, as usually done in the SDA analysis of microstrip lines 4,5,7. The electric
field components are then written as:
Mp Mp
Epu(X) ='~"~Apqfpq(x) , EpL(X)=T. Bp, fpq(x) (p = x, z) (8)
q=l q=l

where Apq and Bpq are still unknown coefficients; the set fpq(x) represents the
chosen basis functions.

These basis functions and Parseval's relation are now used to rewrite the
equations for the continuity of the magnetic field components along the
apertures at y=yN+t and y=y.. Considering, for example, the second relation in
equation (7) for the x-component of the magnetic field:

HxN+2(X,YN + t) = HxN+I (X, YN + t) , with W<x<a (9)

Both sides of this equation are multiplied by the complex conjugate of a basis
function fzq(x), and integrated in x, from W to a:

i H xN.2(X, y N + t)fzq(x)dx = J"

" H xN+~(x, y N+ t)f;q (x)dx (10)
w w

Using Parseval's relation 7, this equation is rewritten as:

= ~ ~H.N.1 f=, (11)

n~o q k=o

The same procedure is repeated with the other relations for the continuity of
magnetic field components in equation (7). As the transformed magnetic field
components were written in terms of the transformed electric field components,
the following homogeneous system of equations is obtained, in terms of the
unknown propagation constant 13and expansion coefficients Apq and Bpq, p = x,
Z:

T_, L "= ~ ~1 - YT1 f:. f., Az.

q=l k=O

+.~ ~ -~
q=l -- k=0
 + I ~-

, .,_ , , .,_ ~
+ I
II ~ Ix~
.< .< .~
i__, ~ JN
.< -<
",, l . ~ -'1- I ' ,. '
II II
-< = ~T~ " ~,~ , ..........., ~_T'>
-< ~ ~-~ ~ -< !b~ r~s -< , .<
II II ~.c ~c II
II II I ~i ~ ~-~ ~ - ,~ ~I~ ~b~
8 o
I I "~ II [I
.~T" ' ~ ~ _ -< _~ + ~b"~s -< I
~-~ ~ II ~ + "( ~"~ + ~r- , -t~ -< ~b~
II II II ~ ~ ~ II -' I~ "~ '
I ~I_[ ~ ~I ~

-< -< -
~-~ ~"~" ' + ~-' ~ ~b~ -< ~_~ + -<

, ~.~ ~-~> ~ ,
"'~ ~ o
~'~" ~I~ +

II ~. Z > II , , ~ > N
~I~" ~ + g g == 0 --,~> 0 O0 I , II - ~ II

>
~T" ~ ~. I,
IT* ~ -'

: i
E
N E ~
N X

NI N
v
 Soaza

YT1 = -Y~3 = ~2-~'~-p2

\, ~ - ~k ~-~) '-,U--UN+, (13.8)

Y ~ , = - Y ~ ' = ~ - ~ =1~ "=' k. (. " ~-'T~-T-

.... ~+'+~"*'~ct"hO
~-~=) u N+, (13.9)

Y~2 = ~ [ c t g h e N ( ~ . 2 ~ - J 3 2 ~ o ) - ~(~n2~VN-,- J32=~oON-,) ] (13.11)

Y~' = ~ L~ rct-h~
u v . \ ('c~2'"
.~-~-;-~.a= .....
,N N~_
) ~ ' ~ \,1 ~ ('~= --~---v._,--~.~-'~
.... .~,, 2 , . C "-~)1
-~ (13.12)

In the equations (13), c~. = (2n + 1)f2a, ~. = k~/2g, ~'i = (v 2 + t32 -a,k~) ~r~, where
v = ~n for i=N and i=N+2, while v = ~k for i=N+l; ~)i = y=h~. k o is the free-space
wave number. The factors V._~ and C~.~ relate the x- and z-components of the
electric field at Y=YN-~to those at Y=YN, and are given in reference [5].

The determinantal equation associated to the homogeneous system of

equations in (12) is solved for the propagation constant 13, and the coefficients
A m and Bpq are then calculated.

3. N U M E R I C A L C O M P U T A T I O N S

3.1 Choice of the basis functions

Accurate solutions are usually obtained with the Spectral Domain Approach,
provided suitable basis functions are chosen. If these functions satisfy the
boundary condition at the strip edges, the so called edge condition, then very
few are needed to represent each field component. Two sets of basis
functions 1-~.7were initially considered here, as indicated below, for W<x<a:

{ fxq(x) = cos(q~u)- (1 - u2) -1~ , q = 0 , 1 , 2 ....

Set 1: (14.1)
fzq(x) = sin (q~u)- (1 - u2) -~r2 , q = 1,2, 3 ....

fxq(X) = Tq(qTzu). (1 - u2) -1~ , q = 0,2,4 ....

Set 2: (14.2)
fzq(X) = Uq(q~u) (1 - u2) 1~ , q = 1,3, 5 ....

Where u = ( a - x ) / 2 g , and Tq(X), Uq(X) are the Chebyshev's polynomials of the

first and second kind, respectively. It is worth mentioning that the basis
functions used here (and in references [1] to [3]) for the x-component of the
electric field (and in reference [4], for the z-component of the current density)
do not actually satisfy the proper edge condition for thick strips. Even so,
accurate results are obtained, as showed next.
ThickMicrostrip 2249

A loss free microstrip line on a single layered substrate was used to test the
dependence of the calculated effective dielectric constant with respect to the
number of basis functions. For this test, the strip was assumed to have zero
thickness (t=0), and the other data were taken as: 2W=h=0.635mm, ~,~=12.5,
and the frequency was fixed at 23.622GHz. Figures 2 show the results obtained
for the effective dielectric constant considering two values for the shielding
width, 2a=3.0mm and 8.0mm. It is observed that faster convergence is attained
with the basis functions in Set 2, especially for very the wide shielding. The
solid lines in these figure indicate results obtained with the classical
formulation of the SDA for the analysis of microstrip lines, i. e. expanding the
current density on the strip in terms of basis functions. In this case,
Chebyshev's polynomials were also used.

10.4 W=h=O.63,Smm, ,~12.5, f=23.622GHz 10.8 2 W = h = O . 6 3 5 m m , sr=12.5~ f = 2 3 . 6 2 2 G H ;

10.6 !
10.2 !
.... 2a=3.0mm, Set 1 i .... 2a=B.Omm, Set 1
...... Set 2 10. Set 2
10.0 - - CIossicol SDA ~o t
L
..... Clasaicol SDA
l OJ10.2 (t
:~ 9.8 ._>
10.0
~ 9.6
",_'-._ _ Ld 9.8

9.4 96

92 94
~"....... "~' ....... ':( ....... '~" ........ "~' ....... ;b'"'"'~'2 ........ ~ ....... ~ ....... ~ ....... ~ ...... ~ 5 ~
Mx, M z + l Mx, Mz+t

Figure 2: Effective dielectric constant versus number of basis functions, for

a microstrip line on a single layered substrate, considering the two
sets of basis functions in (14).

3.2 Results

Based on the results shown in Figures 2, the Chebyshev's polynomials were

then chosen as basis functions for all the calculations that follow.

Figure 3 shows the variation with frequency of the normalized phase constant
13/ko of the same microstrip line as in Figure 2, for different values of the strip
thickness t. It is observed that the strip thickness reduces the normalized phase
constant. Also shown in this figure are results as read from reference [4], which
presents an approximate SDA analysis of moderately thick microstrip lines.
The agreement between the two results is good for small values of t. The
discrepancy for larger values of t was to be expected, as the results in
reference [4] are quoted as being valid to t/2W<0.15. For the calculations, a
sufficiently wide shielding was considered, in order to approximate the laterally
open structure considered in [4].
2250 Souza

3.20

3.00 r'"
0
"~2.90

2.80

2.6o ( ......... 'S' ....... i'o' ...... i~ ...... '2'0 ...... '2'5
Frequency (GHz)

Figure 3: Normalized phase constant of microstrip line versus frequency, for

different values of strip thickness, (~,=12.5, 2W=h~=O.635mm).

Next, a Iossy, three-layer structure was considered, with the following data:
2W=3Oixm, 2a=6mm, h~=h~=5mm, h2=2Op.m, h3=2OOixm, ~,1=1, e~t=O, s~z=l,
e~2=1.77xlOZSiemen/m, ~,3=12.9, tgti3 = 3.0x10"4. This structure simulates the
single layer microstrip with Iossy ground plane considered in reference [6].
Figure 4 shows the variation of the normalized phase constant as a function of
frequency, for different values of the strip thickness t and width 2W, together
with values as read from reference [6]. The agreement between the two results
is good, especially at the higher frequencies.

3.20
3.10
o~'~3.00 ..... t=l.5/~m
........ t=3.0/lrn
~2.90 t=6.0/Im
~2.80
i-~
_ _ - _ : .~'. . - ~ .~~_.-~.~
_ -----.
_
~ ~ 2W=30/~m
2.70
2.60 ..... Reference (C)~)
2.50
; ....... ~ ...... "ib' ..... 'i~ ..... ~_'5."'"~_'5
Frequency (GHz)

Figure 4: Normalized phase constant of a three-layer microstrip line versus

frequency, for different values of strip thickness and width.
Thick Microstrip 2251

Figure 5 shows the variation of the real part of the characteristic impedance
(Z) of this microstrip line with frequency. The characteristic impedance was
calculated according to the voltage - transmitted power definition. The power is
calculated as indicated in reference [5]. The main effect of the strip thickness is
to reduce the value of the characteristic impedance. It was observed that these
values are, in average, less than 2~ greater than those reported in reference

BB:

E86
JE :

I 84 i
U

Y 80 ~ . . .t=l,5p, m
. .

~] ........ t=3.0/~rn
~ t=6.0p, m
7B~). ....... ~. ...... '1'5 ..... "i',5..... 2.~'""2_'5
Frequency (GHz)
Figure 5: Variation of the real part of the characteristic impedance of a
three-layer microstrip line with frequency, for different values of
strip thickness.
[6] for the voltage-current definition.

4. CONCLUSIONS

The Spectral Domain Approach was extended to analyze thick microstrip lines
with Iossy, multi-layered substrate, and Iossy ground plane. The formulation
was considerably simplified by being based on the aperture electdc field, rather
than on the current density on the strip, as in the classical SDA analysis of
microstdp lines. Numerical results for the propagation constant and the
characteristic impedance agreed well with those using other theories.

This formulation can be easily extended to consider multi-layered superstrate,

as well as other types of transmission lines, such as slot lines and coplanar
waveguides.

5. REFERENCES

1 - T. Kitazawa, Y. Hayashi, and M. Suzuki: "Analysis of the Dispersion

Characteristics of Slot Line with Thick Metal Coating", IEEE Trans.
Microwave Theory Tech., Vol. MTT-28, pp 387-392, 1989.
2252 $ouza

2 - T. Kitazawa and R. Mittra: "Analysis of Finline with Finite Metallization

Thickness", IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Tech., Vol. MTT-32, pp
1484-1487, 1984.

- C. Kuo and T. Itoh: "Characterization of Shielded Coplanar Type

Transmission Line Junction Discontinuities Incorporating the Finite
Metallization Thickness Effect", IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Tech., Vol.
MTT-40, pp 73-80, 1992.

4 - R. T. Kollipara and V. K. Tripathi: "Dispersion Characteristics of Moderately

Thick Microstrip Line by the Spectral Domain Method", IEEE Microwave
and Guided Wave Lett., Vol. 2, pp 100-101, 1992.

5 - J. R. Souza, "Spectral Domain Analysis of Printed Transmission Lines in

Multilayered Substrate and Superstrate Configuration", Proc. 8th Annual
Review of Progress in Applied Computational Electromagnetics, pp
290-297, Monterey, CA, U.S.A., March 1992.

6 - W. Heindch, "Full-Wave Analysis of Conductor Losses on MMIC

Transmission Lines", IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Tech., Vol. MTT-38,
pp 1468-1472, October 1990.

7 - T. Itoh (ed.): "Numerical Techniques for Microwave and Millimeter-Wave

Passive Structures", John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1989.