Attenuators

Rohit Kulkarni 1RV17TE042

(duh)
 What are Attenuators?
They are devices that have been employed to control power levels in a microwave system
by partially absorbing the transmitted microwave signal.

Two Types: Fixed, Variable Attenuators

Resistive films are used for designing attenuators.

Ex. Dielectric Glass Slab coated with aquadag

 Coaxial Fixed Attenuator
Uses dielectric lossy material to absorb some of the microwave power propagating through
it. Length of the dielectric rod decides the amount of attenuation.

Microwave power absorbed is dissipated as heat.

 Movable Vane Attenuator
In WG, slab coated with aquadag is placed at the center of the WG for max E field in TE10
mode. Induced current on the lossy material due to microwave current results in power
dissipation.

Note: Slab is tapered at both ends upto a length more than half wavelength to reduce reflections.

It can be made movable by supporting it with 2 dielectric rods separated by an odd multiple of
wavelength perpendicular to the electric field.

When slab is at the center, max attenuation and when being moved towards the side walls,
attenuation decreases.
 Flap Attenuator (also a variable attenuator)
Semicircular flap of lossy dielectric is made to descend into a longitudinal slot cut at the
center of rectangular WG. When the flap is completely outside the slot, attenuation is
minimum and when it is inside the slot, attenuation is max (90 dB with VSWR= 1.05).
Property of dielectric slab can be shaped according to convenience to get variation of
attenuation.
 Precision Type Variable Attenuator
Consists of a rectangular to circular transition, piece of circular waveguide and a circular to
rectangular transition with resistive cards Ra, Rb and Rc. The center circular cross section can be
rotated by 360 degrees w.r.t other 2 fixed cards. The induced current on Rb due to incident signal is
dissipated as heat thus providing attenuation. RCT mode is converted to TE11. The other 2 and
perpendicular to TE10 and thus do not absorb any energy. Thus pure TE11 mode is excited.
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