DESIGN OF MICROSTRTP T JUNCTION POWER DIVIDER CIRCUITS

FOR ENHANCED PERFORMANCE

G. R. Branner, B. Preetham Kumar, and Donald G. Thomas, Jr.

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

University of California
Davis, CA 95616
E-mail: kumar@ece.ucdavis.edu

ABSTRACT
This paper details the development of novel power-divider T
junction circuits which have unique prescribed transmission and
characteristics. Subsequent to a description of the design
technique, the paper describes experimental results obtained in addition to the reciprocal condition;
on a series of fabricated circuit designs. These circuits were
fabricated on microstrip material having a relative dielectric
of 2.17, and substrate thickness of 20 mils. The measured
results are shown to compare well with computer
IUI IJiI
S.. = S. , i,j=l,3;i#j. (4)

simulations over a frequency range from 50 MHz to 8 GHz. The equations (2)-(4), substituted in eqn.(l), yield the
following important relations:
I. INTRODUCTION
The T junction is a fundamental passive component. in
microwave and millimeter-wave monolithic circuits and the
characterization of its transmission and reflection properties
is a topic of considerable interest. In this paper, we have
applied optimization techniques to design power-divider HI. MODELLING AND MEASURED RESULTS
circuits which give pre-specified transmission
Figure l a illustrates a standard symmetric T junction
characteristics. These designs were fabricated with a 20-mil
microstripline circuit possessing equal characteristic
thick microstrip material, and the measured transmission
impedances in each arm. The basic goal of the development
characteristics compared well with the simulated results over
-
the desired frequency range of 1-8 GHz. to be presented in this paper is that, given a power input into
port 1, the power transmission to ports 2 and 3 of the T
junction should maintain a prescribed difference, (i.e. lS311 -
11. BASIC T JUNCTION ANALYSIS
IS211 = k). Such an application is desirable in numerous
The simplest model assumes the T junction (Figure la) to be
instances where an unequal power split is required over a
a lossless, reciprocal and symmetrical %port network. The
latter model gives the following scattering parameter desired frequency band (1-8 GHz in this application).
relations: I2
b
If the scattering matrix is defined as
W W
1' '12 '13

[SI = S2, S22 S23

'31 '32 '33

then [SI = [sl[s*lT = [I] (1)

where [I] is the identity matrix and equation (1) defines the Figure la. Basic Tee Junction
lossless %port condition. In the present work, we consider
models in which ports 1 and 2 are symmetrical to port 3. As described in [ 1, 21, the authors have described the
The symmetrical condition is then defined by the following design, optimization and fabrication of several compensated
equations: T junction power-divider models viz., the asymmetrical tee,
0-7803-2972-4/96$5.00@1996 IEEE
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the 2-step tee and the linearly tapered tee as shown in
Figures Ib-ld respectively. Certain of these designs were
previously realized on 60 mil Teflon fiberglass microstrip
material. Until the developments to be described in this
'i 1
W
paper were employed, the measured results agreed with
computer simulations only up to a frequency of
approximately 4.5 GHz. Based on those results, it became
necessary to improve the technique to achieve predictable
agreement between experimental and modeled performance
upto the 8 GHz range. Towards this end [3], experimental
developments have been continued utilizing improved
microstrip material of smaller substrate hckness h=20 mils
and Er = 2.17. This paper will present a discussion of Figure lb. 2-Step T Junction Circuit
significantly improved results obtained from these
developments. Tables 1-3 contain a brief summary of a
pdrtion of the results to be presented in this paper. These
tables present results for prescribed values of k of 3 dB for
the T junction realizations of Figures lb-ld.
In Table 1, results are summarized for the T junction
realization of Figure 1b. In this realization, it is seen that the
overall r.m.s. error between modeled and prescribed data is
0.3114 dB over a 1 to 8 GHz frequency range. In Table 2, Iw I
results are presented for the circuit realization given in Figure IC. Linearly Tapered T Junction Circuit
Figure IC. In this case it is seen that the overall r.m.s. error
between the desired and modeled responses is 0.1549 dB. In 11
Figure Id, the T junction is realized as an asymmetrical T
circuit (wl, w). Table 3 contains the appropriate data on this
physical circuit realization. A perusal of these results reveal wl wl
that the circuit comparison of prescribed and modeled results
agree reasonably closely to within an r.m.s. error of 1.2453
dB. Sample measured and modeled response characteristics
is contained in Figure 2. This figure shows the comparison
of the computer simulated and measured results for the
linearly tapered T junction of Figure IC.

Figure Id. Asymmetrical T Junction Circuit

Table 1. 2-step T (Er = 2.17, w=0.1534 cm, h = 0.0508 cm)

IS311 - lS211(dB) wl(cm) w2(cm) e l (cm) 42 (cm) r.m.s error (dB)

3.0 0.2148 0.31 16 1.0413 1.OS3 0.3 114

~ 2.17, w = 0.1534 cm, h = 0.0508 cm)

Table 2. Linearly Tapered T ( E =

IS311 - lS211(dB) wl(cm) e (cm> r.m.s error (dB)

3.O 0.3658 3.O 0.1549

Table 3. Asymmetrical T (Er = 2.17, w = 0.1534 cm, h=0.0508 cm)

I S g l l - lS211(dB) w 1(cm) (cm) r.m.s error (dB)

3.0 0.2705 0.9426 1.2453

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 LINEARLY TAPERED TEE, K = 3 DB

-14 +

-16 -
-la t

m m m m m l
rN . ? - ? w * w C w q
o
X
l
Z
n
$
m
$
l n
:
m
m“ “ & $ ; x ~ ~
m
m
m m m m m m m

FREQ.(GHZ)

Figure 2. Transmission Parameters of Linearly Tapered T Junction Circuit

In conclusion, this paper presents the results of a

detailed study to develop novel power-divider T junction
circuits which have prescribed transmission characteristics.
Emphasis is placed on achieving enhanced fidelity between
modeled and experimental data.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We would like to thank Ghader Razmafrouz for his
assistance with the modeling and measurements described in
the paper.
REFERENCES
[ 11 Mark Villegas, G.R. Branner and Preetham B. Kumar,
“Analysis and Design of Microwave T junction
Circuits for Prescribed Response Characteristics,”
presented at the 36th Midwest Symp. on Circuits and
Systems, Wayne State University, Detroit, August
1993.
[2] B. Preetham Kumar, G.R. Branner & Ghader
Razmafrouz, “Optimization of Microwave T Junction
Power-Divider Circuits,” presented at the 37th Midwest
Symposium on Circuits and Systems, August 1994.
[3] S. Wu, H. Yang, N.G. Alexopoulos and I. Wolff, “A
Rigorous Dispersive Characterization of Microstrip
Cross and T Junctions,” IEEE Trans. Microwave
Theory and Techniques, vol. 38, No. 12, Dec. 1990.

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