3.
1 Input Impedance
Figure 2 shows the calculated and measured input impedance of
5-turn elliptical helix with different ellipse eccentricities. It can be
seen that both real part and imaginary part are very flat when the
eccentricity is 0, i.e. the helix cross section is circular. When the
helix cross section is ellipse, the impedance curve is not so smooth
as the normal helix. The largest real part and imaginary part of the
impedance are nearly 400 and ⫺250 ⍀, respectively when the
eccentricity approaches 0.94; however, for that of the normal helix
are 180 and ⫺100 ⍀, respectively. It is observed that the imped-
ance variety becomes sharper with the increment of the eccentric-
ity.
3.2 Axial Ratio
The variation of axial ratio bandwidth of the antennas with differ-
ent eccentricities is shown in Figure 3. The results are observed
that the AR bandwidth (AR ⱕ 3 dB) is very stable when the
eccentricity is below 0.77; however, it becomes narrow when
eccentricity exceeds 0.77. It is observed that the axial ratio band-
width (AR ⱕ 3 dB) exceeds 1 GHz when the eccentricity is below
0.77, and decreases to 800 and 400 MHz when eccentricity is 0.89
and 0.94, respectively. It has been demonstrated that the axial ratio
bandwidth is not sensitive to the ellipse eccentricity when e
ⱕ 0.77, and that characteristic makes the fabrication of helix
much easy due to large tolerance.
3.3 Radiation Pattern
Figure 4 shows the simulated HPBW difference of two different
planes 共␸ ⫽ 0⬚, ␸ ⫽ 90⬚兲. It is noticed that the beamwidth in the
plane of ␸ ⫽ 0⬚ is broader than that in the plane of ␸ ⫽ 90⬚, and
the difference is become bigger with the increment of the eccen-
tricity. This is because the antenna profile along the direction of
␸ ⫽ 90⬚ is longer than that along the direction of ␸ ⫽ 0⬚ [6], and
difference of the major axis and minor axis length becomes larger
with the increment of the eccentricity.
The radiation patterns of the elliptical helix with eccentricity
0.89 are plotted in Figure 5 at frequency 1.85, 2.15, and 2.4 GHz.
The level of cross polarization (i.e. the left-handed circular polar-
ization) is lower than ⫺15 dB over the main beam in all frequen-
cies. It is also noticed that at frequency 2.15 GHz, the level of cross
polarization is lower than ⫺25 dB in plane ␸ ⫽ 90⬚ and ␸
⫽ 270⬚, and ⫺30 dB in the plane ␸ ⫽ 0⬚ and ␸ ⫽ 180⬚ in the
main beam direction. It is shown that the helix with eccentricity
0.89 can still have nearly circularly polarized characteristic (AR ⫽
0.2 as plotted in Fig. 3) at a single frequency.
4. CONCLUSION
In this article, the characteristics of elliptical helical antenna with
different eccentricities have been presented. The results show that
the change of the impedance becomes sharper with the increment
of the eccentricity. It is observed that the axial ratio bandwidth
(AR ⬍ 3 dB) of the elliptical helix remains unchanged when the
eccentricity of the ellipse is low (below 0.77), and when the cross
section approaches more prolate (above 0.77), and the AR band-
width becomes smaller with the increment of the ellipse eccen-
tricity. It is also observed that HPBW in the minor axis direction
is larger than that in the major axis direction, and the difference
becomes larger with the increment of the eccentricity. The mea-
sured patterns show that the elliptical helix with eccentricity 0.89
can still have nearly circularly polarized characteristic (AR ⫽ 0.2)
in the main beam direction at single frequency 2.15 GHz.
DOI 10.1002/mop MICROWAVE AND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY LETTERS / Vol. 48, No. 10, October 2006
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors acknowledge the financial support from the Hong
Kong SAR research grant council via grant no. 9040934.
REFERENCES
1. J.D. Kraus, Antennas for all applications, 3rd ed., Mc Graw Hill, New
York, 2002.
2. H. Barsky, Broadband conical helix antennas. IRE Int Convention Rec
7 (1959), 138 –146.
3. Nakano, et al. Quadrifilar conical helical antenna with traveling-wave
current distribution, IEE Proc Microwaves Antennas Propag 144
(1997), 53–55.
4. C.C. Kilgus, Shaped-conical radiation pattern performance of the back-
fire quadrifilar helix, IEEE Trans Antennas Propag 23 (1969) 392–397.
5. J. Wong and S. Loh, Radiation field of an elliptical helical antenna,
IEEE Trans Antennas Propag (1959), 46 –52.
6. R. Li, et al. Investigation of circularly polarized loop antennas with a
parasitic element for bandwidth enhancement. IEEE Trans Antennas
Propag 53 (2005), 3930 –3939.
© 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
3D FDTD METHOD FOR ARBITRARY
ANISOTROPIC MATERIALS
Lixing Dou and Abdel R. Sebak
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Concordia
University, Montreal, Quebec, H3G 1M8, Canada
Received 22 March 2006
ABSTRACT: A generalized 3D finite-difference time-domain (FDTD)
method for the modeling of electromagnetic wave interaction with a full
anisotropic media is presented. The proposed formulation is applied to
three configurations: a microstrip patch antenna with anisotropic sub-
strates, weakly magnetic ferrite absorbers with punctured holes, and a
waveguide loaded with heterogeneous anisotropic magnetic materials. Com-
puted results show that anisotropic material can have great effects on sys-
tem properties and can add another degree of design freedom. © 2006
Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 48: 2083–2090, 2006;
Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI
10.1002/mop.21871
Key words: computational electromagnetics; FDTD; arbitrary anisotro-
pic material; ferrite
1. INTRODUCTION
Certain natural materials, such as crystals, and man-made materi-
als, including fibers and ferrites, exhibit anisotropic behaviors.
Among these materials, the relationship of the electric flux D
versus electric field E and the magnetic flux B versus magnetic
field H are no longer one-to-one. “Anisotropic” indicates that the
dielectric or magnetic constant is different along the different
crystal directions with respect to the crystal axes. This should be
taken into account when they are used in microstrip and dielectric
antenna, dielectric feed networks, or nonreciprocal microwave
structures. A full tensor property is the most generalized situation
for an anisotropic medium. Numerical methods are especially
useful for such analysis.
The development of high performance microstrip circuit re-
quires more sophisticated and dedicated CAD tools. Many dielec-
tric materials used in waveguides, microwave integrated circuits
(MICs), and monolithic MICs are anisotropic. The anisotropic
effects should be taken into account in the numerical models to
allow for the accurate prediction of their characterizing parame-
2083
ters. From another point of view, the anisotropic nature of these ជ
⭸D
materials cannot be seen as having only a disadvantageous or ជ,
⫽ⵜ⫻H (1a)
⭸t
anomalous impact on their overall characteristics and perfor-
mances. Rather, it should be understood as another parameter, or ជ 共 ␻ 兲 ⫽ 关␧兴 䡠 Eជ 共 ␻ 兲 f Eជ 共 ␻ 兲 ⫽ 关␧兴 ⫺1D
ជ,
D (1b)
another degree of freedom in their relevant electromagnetic (EM)
fields’ properties, allowing the controlling and tuning of their
⭸Bជ
characteristics. ⫽ ⫺ ⵜ ⫻ Eជ , (1c)
The behavior of EM wave in an anisotropic and dispersive ⭸t
medium is very complex. Numerical methods are preferred in such
situation. The finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method is ជ 共␻兲 f H
Bជ 共 ␻ 兲 ⫽ 关 ␮ 兴 䡠 H ជ 共 ␻ 兲 ⫽ 关 ␮ 兴 ⫺1Bជ . (1d)
used in this article for its simplicity and versatility [1].
Because of its intrinsic advantage, the FDTD method can easily In Eqs. (1a)–(1d) the material properties are expressed in tensor
describe the geometry and integrate anisotropic and dispersive forms:

冋 册 冋 册
properties into the main algorithm. As a dedicated CAD tool, the
FDTD method is one of the most powerful and convenient meth- ␧ xx ␧ xy ␧ xz 1 C xx C xy C xz
ods for solving EM problems involving such materials. 关␧兴 ⫽ ␧ yx ␧ yy ␧ yz f 关␧兴 ⫺1 ⫽ C yx C yy C yz , (2a)
␧ zx ␧ zy ␧ zz ⌳ C C zy C zz
Some difficulties arise when FDTD method is used to solve zx

complex medium problems. For anisotropic cases, there is a need

to develop sets of updating parts and the corresponding absorbing ⌳ ⫽ 兩␧兩 ⫽ 共␧ xx␧ yy␧ zz ⫹ ␧ xy␧ yz␧ zx ⫹ ␧ xz␧ yz␧ zy ⫹ ␧ xz␧ yz␧ zy
boundary condition (ABC) parts. For a dispersive case, completely
⫺ ␧ xz␧ yy␧ zx ⫺ ␧ xy␧ yz␧ zz ⫺ ␧ xx␧ yz␧ zy兲␧ 0, (2b)
new sets of equations are needed to be developed. This is a

冋 册 冋 册
difficulty when we apply FDTD method to several applications
␮ xx ␮ xy ␮ xz 1 d xx d xy d xz
with different medium properties. We need a simpler solution that
关 ␮ 兴 ⫽ ␮ yx ␮ yy ␮ yz f关 ␮ 兴 ⫺1 ⫽ d yx d yy d yz , (2c)
requires a minimum of changes for the core updating equations
␮ zx ␮ yz ␮ zz ⌬ d d yz d zz
zx
and for the ABCs.
In response to this need, FDTD algorithms based on a four-step
⌬ ⫽ 兩 ␮ 兩 ⫽ ␮ 0共 ␮ xx␮ yy␮ zz ⫹ ␮ xy␮ yz␮ zx ⫹ ␮ xz␮ yz␮ zy ⫹ ␮ xz␮ yz␮ zy
updating process (D, E, B, and H) are presented in this article. The
anisotropic medium properties arise from the relationship of de- ⫺ ␮ xz␮ yy␮ zx ⫺ ␮ xy␮ yz␮ zz ⫺ ␮ xx␮ xx␮ yz␮ zy兲. (2d)
veloping E from D and H from B. And the EM wave marching
steps are made possible by developing D from H and B from E. The curl equation forms do not change if we express the
This article therefore details the applications of this method to medium properties separately. A material property parts are the
anisotropic, dispersive medium. only parts to be changed to regulate the relationships of the electric
Researchers explored the possibility of extending the FDTD field versus electric flux and the magnetic field versus magnetic
method to the anisotropic medium in the early 1980s. In 1986, flux. The relationships of the electric field versus electric flux are
Choi and Hoefer [2] were the first to apply the FDTD method for
modeling anisotropic substrates. Schneider and Hudson [3] de- C xx n⫹1 C xy n⫹1 C xz
scribed the application of the FDTD method to materials with full E x兩 i⫹1/
n⫹1
2, j,k ⫽ D 兩 ⫹ D 兩 ⫹ D zn⫹1兩 i⫹1/ 2, j,k,
⌳ x i⫹1/ 2, j,k ⌳ y i⫹1/ 2, j,k ⌳
permittivity and conductivity tensors. Hunsberger and Luebbers
[4] used a recursive convolution FDTD scheme to analyze mag- (3a)
netized plasmas (which are both dispersive and anisotropic). Re-
cently, Zhao published a 3D approach [5] based on D, E, and H C yx n⫹1 C yy n⫹1 C yz
E y兩 i,n⫹1
j⫹1/ 2,k ⫽ D 兩 ⫹ D 兩 ⫹ D zn⫹1兩 i, j⫹1/ 2,k,
fields to handle general anisotropic dielectric media. Recognizing ⌳ x i, j⫹1/ 2,k ⌳ y i, j⫹1/ 2,k ⌳
that traditional ABCs cannot be applied to general anisotropic (3b)
materials, Zhao [5] extended Berenger’s PML to permit the match-
ing of anisotropic materials. Akyurtlu and Werner investigated the C zx n⫹1 C zy C zz
application of the FDTD method to a uniaxial bianisotropic me- E z兩 i,n⫹1
j,k⫹1/ 2 ⫽ D 兩 ⫹ D n⫹1兩 ⫹ D zn⫹1兩 i, j,k⫹1/ 2.
⌳ x i, j,k⫹1/ 2 ⌳ y i, j,k⫹1/ 2 ⌳
dium [6]. Mosallaei and Sarabandi analyzed magneto-dielectrics
using the FDTD method [7]. More research has also been devoted (3c)
to applying the FDTD method to the analysis of magnetized
ferrites with off-diagonal dispersive permeability tensors [8-12]. It is well known that the electric or magnetic field has specific
positions in the Yee’s grid. We notice that Dy and Dz in Eq. (3a)
2. FDTD FOR ARBITRARY ANISOTROPIC MATERIAL do not fit in the FDTD grid, nor do Dx and Dz in Eq. (3b) and Dx
In this section, we present the formulation and special treatments and Dy in Eq. (3c). One of the methods for solving this problem is
of the 3D FDTD method for materials with arbitrary anisotropic using the finite different method to obtain their correct expressions.
permittivity and permeability tensors. Contrary to other methods, In Eq. (3a), Dy and Dz can be expressed as
this approach is separated into two parts: dielectric properties parts
and wave marching parts. Dielectric anisotropic properties are 1
D y兩 i⫹1j,k ⫽ 共D y兩 i, j⫺1/ 2k ⫹ D y兩 i, j⫹1/ 2k ⫹ D y兩 i⫹1j⫺1/ 2k ⫹ D y兩 i⫹1, j⫹1/ 2k兲,
realized through relationships of the electric flux versus electric 2 4
field and the magnetic flux versus magnetic field. The EM wave
(4a)
marching is realized through relationships of the magnetic field
versus electric flux and the electric field versus magnetic flux.
1
For the general anisotropic materials, the properties of the D z兩 i⫹1, j,k ⫽ 共D z兩 i, j,k⫺1/ 2 ⫹ D z兩 i, j,k⫹1/ 2 ⫹ D z兩 i⫹1, j,k⫺1/ 2 ⫹ D z兩 i⫹1, j,k⫹1/ 2兲.
medium are expressed in a tensor form. We can rewrite the general
2 4
form of Maxwell’s equations for anisotropic materials as [1]: (4b)

2084 MICROWAVE AND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY LETTERS / Vol. 48, No. 10, October 2006 DOI 10.1002/mop
 We should do the same modification of Dx and Dz and Dx and
Dy in Eqs. (3b) and (3c), respectively.
Also, the relationships of the magnetic field and magnetic flux
are

d xx n⫹3/ 2 d xy
H x兩 i,n⫹3/
j⫹1/ 2,k⫹1/ 2 ⫽
2
B x兩 i, j⫹1/ 2k⫹1/ 2 ⫹ B y兩 i,n⫹3/ 2
⌬ ⌬ j⫹1/ 2,k⫹1/ 2

d xz n⫹3/ 2
⫹ B兩 , (5a)
⌬ z ij⫹1/ 2,k⫹1/ 2

d yx n⫹3/ 2 d yy n⫹3/ 2
H y兩 i⫹1/ 2, j,k⫹1/ 2 ⫽
n⫹3/ 2
B兩 ⫹ B y兩 i⫹1/
⌬ x i⫹1/ 2, j,k⫹1/ 2 ⌬ 2, j,k⫹1/ 2

d yz n⫹3/ 2
⫹ B兩 , (5b)
⌬ z i⫹1/ 2, j,k⫹1/ 2

d zx n⫹3/ 2 d zy
H z兩 i⫹1/ 2, j⫹1/ 2,k ⫽
n⫹3/ 2
B兩 ⫹ B 兩 n⫹3/ 2
⌬ x i⫹1/ 2, j⫹1/ 2k ⌬ y i⫹1/ 2, j⫹1/ 2,k
d zz n⫹3/ 2
⫹ B兩 . (5c)
⌬ z i⫹1/ 2, j⫹1/ 2,k

Following the same idea, the modifications of By and Bz in Eq. (5a)

are
Figure 1 Configuration of microstrip patch antenna

1
B y兩 i, j⫹1/ 2k⫹1/ 2 ⫽ 共B y兩 i⫹1/ 2, j⫹1,k⫹1/ 2 ⫹ B y兩 i⫹1/ 2, j,k⫹1/ 2
4
There are several ways of generating a source for a microstrip.
⫹ B y兩 i⫺1/ 2, j⫹1,k⫹1/ 2 ⫹ B y兩 i⫺1/ 2, j,k⫹1/ 2兲, (6a)
A simple way is to apply an electric field between the strip
conductor and the ground plane at the source position. Alterna-
1 tively, an imaginary perfect magnetic wall beside the source po-
B z兩 i, j⫹1/ 2,k⫹1/ 2 ⫽ 共B z兩 i⫹1/ 2j⫹1/ 2k⫹1 ⫹ B z兩 i⫹1/ 2j⫹1/ 2k
4 sition can yield a better solution. Both methods should work, but
⫹ B z兩 i⫺1/ 2j⫹1/ 2k⫹1 ⫹ B z兩 i⫺1/ 2j⫹1/ 2k兲. (6b) they may have some distortion due to an imperfect plane wave
model. For a better plane waveform, the total field/scattering field
method is applied to generate a plane wave at the source position.
Similar modification of Bx and Bz in Eq. (5b) and Bx and By Eq.
In the first step, the scattering coefficients are computed when
(5c) can be carried out.
the relative permittivity tensor is expressed as [15]
Because some concerning regions maybe infinitely large, the

冉 冊
ABCs are used to truncate the solution region. In this study, the
␧ xx ␧ xy ␧ xz
simplified PML techniques developed by Sullivan are applied [13].
共␧ r兲 ⫽ ␧ yx ␧ yy ␧ yz , (7)
␧ zx ␧ zy ␧ zz
3. NUMERICAL RESULTS
We applied the FDTD formulation for anisotropic media presented ␧ xx ⫽ ␧ 1 cos2 ␪ ⫹ ␧2 sin2 ␪; (8)
in previous part to the analysis of three different applications.
These include analysis of microstrip antenna over anisotropic ␧ yy ⫽ ␧ 1;
material, ferrite absorber material, and a waveguide loaded with
anisotropic ferrite. ␧ zz ⫽ ␧ 1 sin2 ␪ ⫹ ␧2 cos2 ␪;

3.1 Patch Antenna
In this example, the FDTD algorithm developed for a general
anisotropic medium is used to a microstrip patch antenna on its
performance [14]. First we generate the scattering coefficients
under the condition of anisotropic medium with arbitrary permit-
tivity. In the second step, we generate the scattering coefficients
under the condition of arbitrary permittivity and permeability.
Figure 1 shows the dimensions of the patch antenna. The
resonant frequency corresponds to the width of the patch with
␭/2 ⫽ 12.45 mm. ⌬x, ⌬y, and ⌬z are chosen differently so that
different geometries can fit within simulation grids. The spatial
steps are as follows: ⌬x ⫽ 0.389 mm, ⌬y ⫽ 0.400 mm, and ⌬z ⫽
0.265 mm. ⌬t ⫽ ⌬z/2c is chosen in this simulation. The rectan-
gular patch size is thus 32⌬x ⫻ 40⌬y. The length of feed line is
31⌬y. The source position is located at 18⌬y away from the patch.
␧ xz ⫽ ␧ zx ⫽ 共␧ 1 ⫺ ␧ 2兲sin␪ cos␪;
␧ xy ⫽ ␧ yx ⫽ ␧ zy ⫽ 0,
␪ is the angle between the optical axis and the x direction.
Assuming that the optical axis for the two permittivities are
located in the X-Z plane, we consider three values for ␪
␧共0,␲/4,␲/2兲 with ␧1 ⫽ 2.31,␧2 ⫽ 2.19. The input impedance
around the first resonant frequency is shown in Figure 2. Results
are pretty similar to previous results reported in Ref. 5. These
results can serve as a proof supporting the accuracy of this method.
From Figure 2 we can note that the frequency response changes
with the optical angle. Also, the optical angle has small effect on
the resonant frequency. The bandwidth does not change too much
compared to the corresponding bandwidth for the isotropic sub-
strate.

DOI 10.1002/mop MICROWAVE AND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY LETTERS / Vol. 48, No. 10, October 2006 2085
 Figure 2 The input impedance as a function of frequency
In the following step, we calculate the scattering coefficient for
a substrate with arbitrary permittivity and permeability given by
Eqs. (7) and (8). The permeability tensor can be expressed as
冉 冊
␮ xx ␮ xy ␮ xz
共 ␮ r兲 ⫽ ␮ yx ␮ yy ␮ yz .
␮ zx ␮ zy ␮ zz
Assuming that the optical axis for both permittivity and per-
meability are located in the X-Z plane, the expression of each
component in Eq. (9)is given by
␮ xx ⫽ ␮ 1 cos2 ␪ ⫹ ␮2 sin2 ␪;
␮ yy ⫽ ␮ 1;
␮ zz ⫽ ␮ 1 sin2 ␪ ⫹ ␮2 cos2 ␪;
␮ xz ⫽ ␮ zx ⫽ 共 ␮ 1 ⫺ ␮ 2兲sin␪ cos␪;
␮ xy ⫽ ␮ yx ⫽ ␮ zy ⫽ 0.
In this example, ␪ ⫽ 0, ␲/4, ␲/2, ␧1 ⫽ 2.31, ␧2 ⫽ 2.19, ␮1
⫽ 1.007 and ␮2 ⫽ 1.001 are used. Figure 3 shows the variation
of the input impedance around the first resonant frequency.
Figure 3 The input impedance as a function of frequency
2086 MICROWAVE AND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY LETTERS / Vol. 48, No. 10, October 2006
Figure 4 Structure of ferrite absorber
The first resonant frequency shifts from 7.8 to 6.45 GHz as ␪
(9) increases from 0 to ␲/2. And the bandwidth is increased. It is
interesting to note that arbitrary permittivity and permeability can
greatly affect the performance of a patch antenna. And this can add
another design freedom to control the antenna characteristics.
3.2 Ferrite Microwave Absorber
Rapid developments in the wireless communication industry have
(10) increased the demand for EM wave absorbers. For example, at 1.9
GHz a cellular phone needs absorbers to suppress EM wave
radiation into human body. At 2.4 GHz, WLANs need absorbers to
reduce extra energy and prevent EM wave interference or multire-
flection from obstacles that may affect the overall performance of
the system.
Conventional ferrite materials could provide a simple solution
to these demands [16]. The manufacturing procedure is very com-
plex, as there are many conditions that affect ferrite properties,
including controlled sintered temperature, pressure, and ratio of
composite materials. This may lead to a slight frequency shift from
the design frequency for these products. A designer can deal with
this problem by punching out small holes in the rubber ferrite. This
may improve the matching characteristics and adjust the working
frequency band. Matching adjustment is achieved by changing the
geometrical size of the holes. The FDTD method is an efficient
tool to calculate an accurate matching frequency for the ferrite
with small holes. Figure 4 shows the geometry of an EM wave
absorber with small holes punched in the rubber ferrite.
A circular hole can be approximated by a square hole of equal
area if the size of the hole is smaller than the wavelength. This is
necessary for reducing the memory size and processing time
during numerical simulation. Circular holes are more easily man-
ufactured than square ones.
For a weakly magnetized ferrite absorber, the permeability can
be expressed as a frequency-dependent function [16]:
kf 1
␮r ⫽ 1 ⫹ ⫽ ␮ ⬙r ⫺ j ␮ ⬙r, (11)
f 1 ⫹ jf
k is the value of static magnetic susceptibility when the frequency
is zero
DOI 10.1002/mop
 Figure 5 Cross-section modeling of ferrite absorber

Figure 7 The effects of changing hole size. Hole spacing ⫽ 4 mm,

To update FDTD expressions for the above permeability, the
Fourier transform method, or a Z transform method maybe be used
to obtain the time domain expression of the ferrite permeability.
A weakly magnetized ferrite can be treated as a first-order
Debye medium, using the Z transform method [13].
B共 z兲 ⫺ e ⫺⌬t/t0Z ⫺1S共 z兲
H共 z兲 ⫽ , (12)
x 1⌬t
1⫹
t0
x1 ⌬t
where S共z兲 ⫽ e⫺⌬t/t0 Z⫺1 S共z兲 ⫹ H共z兲.
t0
In the updating form, the above equations are expressed as
B n ⫺ e ⫺⌬t2␲f 1S n⫺1
Hn ⫽ , (14)
1 ⫹ k⌬t2 ␲ f 1
S n ⫽ e ⫺⌬t2 ␲ f 1 Sn⫺1 ⫹ k⌬t2␲f1 Hn .
In the present FDTD simulations, only the normal incident
waves are considered. The reflection coefficient is analyzed using
the model presented in Figure 5. On the right side is the rubber
ferrite with holes backed by a conductive plane, and on the left side
ferrite thickness ⫽ 6.5 mm, ␧r ⫽ 16, and time step ⫽ 6000
is the PML absorbing layer. In the rubber ferrite, circular holes are
replaced by equivalent square holes.
The results in Figure 6 show the dependence of the reflection
coefficient and absorbing frequency on the relative permittivity
under the condition that there are no holes in the ferrite absorber.
The results are in excellent agreement with the results reported in
Ref. 16. Figure 6 demonstrates that the relative permittivity con-
siderably affects the ferrite-absorbing frequency. A higher permit-
tivity means a lower absorbing frequency.
(13) Figure 7 shows the dependency of the reflection coefficient and
the absorbing frequency on the hole-size. We can see that the
absorbing frequency shifts to a higher value if the hole-size in-
creases.
Figure 8 shows the dependence of results on the spacing
between holes. We can see that the absorbing frequency shifts to
a higher frequency when the hole spacing decreases.
In practice, the absorbing frequency can be adjusted by chang-
(15)
ing the space distance among the holes. Using FDTD simulations,
we can produce and adjust the working frequency for a given
ferrite absorber material.
3.3 Waveguides Loaded With Heterogeneous Anisotropic Ferrites
The effects of ferrite materials on high frequency signals under a
static magnetic biasing field make them widely used in microwave

Figure 6 The effects of changing relative permittivity (no holes). Ferrite

thickness ⫽ 6.5 mm, time step ⫽ 6000, ⌬x ⫽ 0.2 mm, ⌬y ⫽ 0.1 mm, and Figure 8 The effects of changing hole spacing. Hole size ⫽ 2 ⫻ 2 mm2,
⌬z ⫽ 0.2 mm ferrite thickness ⫽ 6.5 mm, ␧r ⫽ 16, and time step ⫽ 6000

DOI 10.1002/mop MICROWAVE AND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY LETTERS / Vol. 48, No. 10, October 2006 2087
 1 ⫹ x0 k0
H n⫹1 ⫽ 0 2 ⫻ Hy ⫺
n
⫻ H nx
y
共1 ⫹ x 兲 ⫹ 共k 兲
0 2
共1 ⫹ x 兲 ⫹ 共k 0兲 2
0 2

冘 冘
n⫺1 n⫺1
k0
⫺ ⫻关 H n⫺m⌬xm ⫺ Hn⫺m ⌬km 兴
共1 ⫹ x 0兲 2 ⫹ 共k 0兲 2 x y
m⫽0 m⫽0

冘 冘
n⫺1 n⫺1
1 ⫹ x0
⫹ ⫻关 Hn⫺m ⌬xm ⫹ Hn⫺m ⌬km 兴
共1 ⫹ x0 兲2 ) ⫹ 共k0 兲2 y x
m⫽0 m⫽0

0
1 k
⫺ 共Bn⫹1 ⫺ Bny 兲
␮0 共1 ⫹ x0 兲2 ⫹ 共k0 兲2 y
Figure 9 Structure and modeling of ferrite-loaded waveguide. a ⫽ 22.86
mm, b ⫽ 10.16 mm, and L1 ⫽ L2 ⫽ 5.715 mm 1 1 ⫹ x0
⫹ 共Bn⫹1 ⫺ Bnx 兲. (20)
␮0 共1 ⫹ x0 兲2 ⫹ 共k0 兲2 x
devices. This utilization requires knowledge of a permeability
tensor, which makes such kinds of devices difficult to study using Here, the coefficients in the aforementioned expression are
analytical techniques. Numerical methods, such as the FDTD
method, are ideal tools for the analysis and design of this kind of
devices. x 0 ⫽ re 冉 再␻m
␻0
1 ⫺ exp ⫺
␻0
1 ⫹ ␣2 冋
共␣ ⫺ j兲⌬t 册冎 , (21)
When a ferrite is subjected to a strong static magnetic biasing
field, it becomes both strongly dispersive and anisotropic. The
magnetic field of the EM wave is pointing in a direction other than
the static biasing field. The permeability depends on the strength of
k 0 ⫽ re 冉 ␻m 1 ⫹ j␣
␻0 ␣ ⫺ j 再
1 ⫺ exp ⫺
␻0
1 ⫹ ␣2 冋
共␣ ⫺ j兲⌬t 册冎冊 , (22)

冉 再 冋 册冎 冊
the biasing field and the ferrites become strongly anisotropic. If the
␻m ␻0 2
static biasing field H0 is along the z axis, the permeability of a ⌬x0 ⫽ 1 ⫺ exp ⫺ 共␣ ⫺ j兲⌬t , (23)
␻0 1 ⫹ ␣2
ferrite can be expressed in a tensor form [17]:

␮ *共 ␻ 兲 ⫽ ␮ 0␮˜ 共 ␻ 兲 ⫽ ␮ 0 冋 1 ⫹ ␹ m共 ␻ 兲
jk共 ␻ 兲
⫺ jk共 ␻ 兲
1 ⫹ ␹m
0
册
0 . (16)
⌬k0 ⫽ 冉 ␻m 1 ⫹ j␣
␻0 ␣ ⫺ j 再
1 ⫺ exp ⫺
␻0
1 ⫹ ␣2 冋
共␣ ⫺ j兲⌬t 册冎 冊
2
. (24)

0 0 1
Recursive relation for ⌬xm and ⌬km are
Here

␹ m共 ␻ 兲 ⫽
共 ␻ 0 ⫹ j ␻␣ 兲 ␻ m
, (17)
⌬xm⫹1 ⫽ exp ⫺ 冋 ␻0
1 ⫹ ␣2
共␣ ⫺ j兲⌬t ⌬xm , 册 (25)

共 ␻ 0 ⫹ j ␻␣ 兲 2 ⫺ ␻ 2

k共 ␻ 兲 ⫽
⫺ ␻␻ m
. (18)
⌬km⫹1 ⫽ exp ⫺ 冋 ␻0
1 ⫹ ␣2
共␣ ⫺ j兲⌬t ⌬km . 册 (26)

共 ␻ 0 ⫹ j ␻␣ 兲 2 ⫺ ␻ 2
A rectangular waveguide loaded with two layers of magnetized
Where ␻0 ⫽ ␥m H0 is the processional frequency; ␣ is the damping ferrites [19] is depicted in Figure 9. The interested frequency range
constant, ␥m ⫽ 28 GHz/K0 is the gyromagnetic ratio; and ␻m is from 8 to 12 GHz. For the first ferrite layer, the biasing field H0
⫽ ␥m 4␲m0 where m0 is the static magnetization. ⫽ 200 Oe and the static magnetization 4␲Ms ⫽ 2000 G are used.
Using the time domain convolution method, we can write the
expressions of the magnetic flux and magnetic field in differential
forms [18]. Here we adopt the formulation developed from the
time domain convolution method. Here, the only modification we
should do is Bn⫹1 ⫺ Bn ⫽ ⫺ ⌬t共ⵜ ⫻ E兲.

1 ⫹ x0 k0
H n⫹1 ⫽ 0 2 ⫻ Hx ⫹
n
⫻ H ny
x
共1 ⫹ x 兲 ⫹ 共k 兲
0 2
共1 ⫹ x 兲 ⫹ 共k 0兲 2
0 2

k0 k0
⫹ ⫻ H n
⫹
共1 ⫹ x 0兲 2 ⫹ 共k 0兲 2 ⫹ 共k 0兲 2 y
共1 ⫹ x 0兲 2 ⫹ 共k 0兲 2

冘 冘
n⫺1 n⫺1
1 ⫹ x0
⫻关 H n⫺m⌬xm ⫹ Hn⫺m ⌬km 兴 ⫹
y x
共1 ⫹ x0 兲2 ⫹ 共k0 兲2
m⫽0 m⫽0

冘 冘
n⫺1 n⫺1
1 k0
⫻关 Hn⫺m ⌬xm ⫺ Hn⫺m ⌬km兴 ⫹
x y
␮0 共1 ⫹ x 兲 ⫹ 共k0兲2
0 2
m⫽0 m⫽0
Figure 10 S11 parameters of waveguide loaded with two ferrite layers.
1 1 ⫹ x0 Time steps ⫽ 6000, ⌬x ⫽ 0.5715 mm, ⌬y ⫽ 0.5715 mm, and ⌬z ⫽ 0.513
⫻ 共Bny ⫹ 1 ⫺ Bny 兲 ⫹ 共Bn ⫹ 1 ⫺ Bnx 兲, (19)
␮0 共1 ⫹ x0兲2 ⫹ 共k0兲2 x mm

2088 MICROWAVE AND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY LETTERS / Vol. 48, No. 10, October 2006 DOI 10.1002/mop
Figure 11 S21 parameters of waveguide loaded with two ferrite layers
For the second layer, the biasing field H0 ⫽ ⫺200 Oe and the static
magnetization 4␲Ms ⫽ ⫺2000 G are used. The ferrite permittivity
␧r is 14.5 and the thickness for each layer L1 ⫽ L2 is 5.715 mm. S11
and S21 parameters are calculated for this structure. The PML
ABCs are applied to truncate the computational domain.
The source allows only the TE10 mode to propagate in the
waveguide. The Gaussian pulse can cover a wide frequency range
response in just one simulation. On the interface, we change the
permittivity value into the average value of ferrite and air.
Following the previously discussed procedure, we can calculate
S11 and S21 parameters for this waveguide. The magnetic motion
equation method [9] is also applied to this structure to generate the
scattering parameters for comparison. The results are shown in
Figures 10 and 11. The results for S11 parameters are almost
identical, which show the effectiveness of our method. However
for S21 parameters, the results are different. For 3D FDTD appli-
cations, anisotropic and dispersive materials are not simple to
model, especially at the interface of different medium, PEC or
PMC, which make the simulation more difficult.
To explore the effect of anisotropic characteristics upon system
parameters, we change the biasing field value. Changing the bias-
ing field is equivalent to changing permeability values in the tensor
expression. Using this technique, we can control system parame-
ters. Figures 12 and 13 show, respectively, S11 and S21 for two
Figure 12 S11 parameters of waveguide loaded with two ferrite layers.
Time steps ⫽ 6000, ⌬x ⫽ 0.5715 mm, ⌬y ⫽ 0.5715 mm, and ⌬z ⫽ 0.513
mm
DOI 10.1002/mop MICROWAVE AND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY LETTERS / Vol. 48, No. 10, October 2006
Figure 13 S21 parameters of waveguide loaded with two ferrite layers
values of the biasing field. For up biasing ferrite, H0 ⫽ 200 Oe, H0
⫽ 100 Oe, and 4␲Ms ⫽ 2000 G are used while for down biasing
ferrite, H0 ⫽ ⫺200 Oe, H0 ⫽ ⫺100 Oe, and 4␲Ms ⫽ ⫺2000 G are
used. We can note that the absorbing frequency shifts as the
biasing field value changes. These results support the facts that
anisotropic properties of material can be used as another design
parameter to enhance the performance of microwave device.
4. CONCLUSION
3D FDTD algorithms for full anisotropic materials (␧ and ␮) were
formulated using relationships between electric field, electric flux,
magnetic field, and magnetic flux. In this FDTD formulation, both
permeability and permittivity are expressed in tensor forms. This
formulation can also be applied to anisotropic and dispersive
materials with no major modifications for the core updating parts.
The formulation is applied to a microstrip patch antenna, ferrite
absorbers, and a waveguide. Numerical results show that anisotro-
pic materials exhibit big influence on microwave devices. We also
found that the electrical performance of materials with full aniso-
tropic properties is improved compared with materials with only
isotropic or anisotropic permittivity. This can improve a system
performance and provides us with more design choices.
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© 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
SPURIOUS SUPPRESSION OF A DUAL-
MODE BANDPASS FILTER USING
SIMPLE C-SHAPED
ELECTROMAGNETIC BANDGAP CELLS
Hung-Wei Wu,1,2 Min-Hang Weng,3 Yan-Kuin Su,1,2
Cheng-Yuan Hung,1,2 and Ru-Yuan Yang1,2
1
Department of Electrical Engineering
Institute of Microelectronics
National Cheng Kung University
Taiwan
2
Advanced Optoelectronic Technology Center
National Cheng Kung University
Taiwan
3
National Nano Device Laboratories
Taiwan
Received 22 March 2006
ABSTRACT: This article proposes a dual-mode microstrip bandpass
filter (BPF) with C-shaped electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) cells etched
on the ground plane for spurious suppression. The C-shaped EBG cell
is modeled as a parallel RLC resonator and the equivalent circuit pa-
rameters are extracted. The relationship between bandgap characteristic
and dimension parameters of C-shaped EBG cell is discussed and the
bandgap characteristic of C-shaped EBG cells on the filter performance
is also investigated. The C-shaped EBG cells add a good stopband-re-
jection mode to the second harmonics of the dual-mode microstrip BPF
with suppression of over ⫺40 dB, without affecting the center frequency
2090 MICROWAVE AND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY LETTERS / Vol. 48, No. 10, October 2006
and insertion loss of the original designed BPF. The experimented re-
sults verified the simulated results well. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Microwave Opt Technol Lett 48: 2090 –2093, 2006; Published online in
Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.
21870
Key words: electromagnetic bandgap (EBG); bandpass filter (BPF);
spurious; suppression; equivalent circuit
1. INTRODUCTION
The dual-mode filters are attractive in recent years since they have
advantages of narrow bandwidth, two symmetric transmission zeros,
and high-selectivity characteristics in filter frequency response [1].
The dual-mode bandpass filters (BPFs) mainly consist of a physical
coupling of two degenerate modes in a symmetrical ring or patch
resonators, excited by a perturbation element such as the patch struc-
ture along the orthogonal plane of resonators [2]. Due to the simple
structure, the dual-mode ring BPF inherently exhibit spurious re-
sponses at the harmonics of the fundamental passband frequency [2,
3]. However, the requirements of the high performance filter in the
sensitive receiver needs a wider upper stop-band for reducing the
interference from out-of-band signals, and therefore a cascaded low-
pass filter or bandstop filter may be used to suppress the spurious
response at cost of extra insertion loss and size.
Recently, the electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) structure and
defected ground structure (DGS) with periodic arrays of etched on
the ground plane have been investigated for microstrip circuits to
provide the rejection in some frequency band [4, 5]. However, it is
difficult to find equivalent circuits of EBG structures and then
extract all the circuit parameters quickly and accurately. In addi-
tion, it is also difficult to design quickly a specific attenuation pole
at certain frequency region of the conventional H-shaped DGS,
since the shape of DGS is not related to the specific guided-wave
length but related to the lumped elements [3, 6, 7].
In this article, a novel C-shaped EBG cell is proposed and
applied to the spurious suppression of the dual-mode BPF. The
proposed BPF has a microstrip dual-mode square ring resonator on
the top plane and two sets of three C-shaped EBG cells on the
ground plane under the ports 1 and 2, respectively, as shown in
Figure 1. In contrary to the conventional H-shaped DGS, the
attenuation pole frequency of the proposed C-shaped cell can be
easily determined by the ring length, corresponding with the half
guide-wave length. We also extract the equivalent circuit param-
eters of C-shaped EBG cells based on the conventional transmis-
sion theory and then further discuss the proposed DGS cell with
Figure 1 A 3-D view configuration of proposed dual-mode ring BPF
using simple C-shaped cells
DOI 10.1002/mop