IEEE MICROWAVE MAGAZINE RESEARCH BY WOMEN IN MICROWAVES
I E E E I nternati onal M i crowave B i omed i cal Conf erence
Organizing Committee
G eneral Ch ai r
Dominique Schreurs
G eneral Co-Ch ai r
Tomislav Markovic
Tech ni cal P rog ram Co-Ch ai rs
Ping Jack Soh,
Marco Mercuri
Fi nance Ch ai r
Xuezhi Zheng
Award s Commi ttee Ch ai r
Rocco Giofre
Focus S essi ons Ch ai r
Hendrik Rogier
W omen i n M i crowaves Ch ai r
Alessandra Costanzo
P ub li cati on Co-Ch ai rs
Maede Chavoshi
Ben Harkinezhad Nalivan
P ub li ci ty Co-Ch ai rs
Ben Harkinezhad Nalivan
Marie Mertens
I nd ustry Ch ai r
Greet Bilsen
Y oung P rof essi onals Ch ai r
Giacomo Paolini
I T S upport Ch ai r
Matko Martinic
W eb si te Ch ai r
Yasser Mohammadi Qaragoez
S oci al M ed i a Ch ai r
Michal Cifra
L ocal Arrang ement Co-Ch ai rs
Pouya Mehrjouseresht
Maede Chavoshi
S oci al E vents Ch ai r
Marie Mertens
Conf erence S ecretari at
Natalie Buyckx
E x ecuti ve Commi ttee
J.-C. Chiao, Katia Grenier,
Alessandra Costanzo, Robert
Caverly , Yong Xin Guo,
Dominique Schreurs, Milica
Popovic, Hong Hong, Chung-Tse
Michael Wu, Dietmar Kissinger
imbioc-ieee.org
IMBioC2023@gmail.com
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MMM.2022.3228343
VOLUME 24 • NUMBER 4 • APRIL 2023
September 11-13, 2023
2023
Leuven, Belgium
CALL FOR PAPERS
Th e 2023 I E E E I nternati onal M i crowave B i omed i cal Conf erence ( I M B i oC 2023 ) will be held on
September 11-13, 2023, in Leuven, Belgium in a physical mode. IMBioC is an international forum to exchange ideas and
information on state-of-the-art research in RF and microwave, antennas and electromagnetic theory and technology,
that bridge the science and engineering gap as applied to biomedical systems. IMBioC 2023 is organized by KU Leuven.
IMBioC 2023 is the continuation of a series of IEEE MTT-S biomedical focused events held in Suzhou (2022), Toulouse
(2020), Nanjing (2019), Philadelphia (2018), Gothenburg (2017), Austin (2016), Taipei (2015), San Diego (2015), London
(2014), Newport Beach (2014), Singapore (2013), Austin (2013), Santa Clara (2012) and Phoenix (2011). IMBioC 2023
will feature both invited and contributed papers. Distinguished researchers will be invited to deliver keynote speeches
on technology trends and significant advances in relevant topics. Contributed papers are solicited for the topics as
listed below.
Topi cs of i nterest i nclud e, b ut are not li mi ted to
» RF/microwave/THz circuits and systems for biomedical applications
I mportant d ates » Antennas and propagation for biomedical applications
» Bio-Electromagnetics
P aper sub mi ssi on » Electromagnetic imaging and magnetic resonance imaging
» Radar and radio sensor applications for biomedical applications
› M ay 1, 2023 » Wireless power transfer and wireless communication technologies for
biomedical applications
P aper noti f i cati on » Wearable and bio-implantable antennas and wireless devices
› J uly 1, 2023 » Interaction of electromagnetic fields with biological materials at the tissue,
cellular and molecular levels
Fi nal manuscri pt » Pathological, physiological and biochemical studies with electromagnetic waves
› Aug 1, 2023 » Electromagnetic safety studies and regulatory compliance
» Electromagnetic compatibility and interference for biomedical applications
» Internet of Things (IoTs) for biomedical applications
» Body Sensor Network and body-centric communications
» Other related topics
P aper sub mi ssi on
Authors are invited to submit three-page manuscripts in PDF format. All papers must be written in English and describe
clearly the concept and results. The template is available on the IMBioC’s website. Papers submitted will be peer
reviewed. All presented papers at the conference will be submitted to IEEE Xplore.
B est S tud ent P aper contest
A “Best Student Paper” award, sponsored by GAAS, will be presented at the conference. The awards committee will
judge the papers on originality, significance, technical soundness, and presentation. To qualify, the author must be a
full-time student who presents the paper as the first author.
S peci al I ssue i n I E E E J -E R M
Authors presenting at IMBioC 2023 are invited to submit an expanded version of their papers to a special issue in the
IEEE Journal of Electromagnetics, RF and Microwaves in Medicine and Biology (J-ERM): ieee-jerm.org.
 IEEE MICROWAVE THEORY AND TECHNOLOGY SOCIETY
Undergraduate/Pregraduate Scholarship Program

Description

The IEEE Microwave Theory and Technology Society (MTT-S) will award up to ten undergraduate/pre-
graduate scholarships in two competitions a year. The purpose of these scholarships is to attract BS
and MS students to the microwave and RF discipline, and to encourage them to pursue a job in the
field or a PhD degree in this field.

The award consists of:

1. $1500 cash award. Funds may be used for project materials and/or stipends

2. Certificate of recognition. There is a Student Awards Luncheon held on Thursday at every IMS
conference to recognize student contributions to the MTT-S Society.

3. Travel supplement (up to a maximum of $1000 USD) to attend the next IMS or an MTT-S
sponsored regional conference (e.g. European Microwave Conference, Asia-Pacific Microwave
Conference, etc.). A limited number of travel supplements would be available upon request to
the Scholarship Chair prior the conference. This additional financial support is paid on the
basis of receipts and does not include expenses related to registering for the conference.

Eligibility

1. Applicant must be a BS, BS/MS or MS student in electrical engineering (or related field). The time
of application (Fall or Spring) should not coincide with the semester in which the student graduates.
The student must identify a faculty mentor who will supervise the applicant’s project or thesis work in
the microwave/RF area and verify that the student will not graduate during the semester of
application submission. Alternatively, project work may be conducted in conjunction with industry, but
a faculty mentor must still be identified.

2. The faculty mentor must be an IEEE MTT-S member.

3. At the application time, the applicant is not requested to be an IEEE member. However, if selected,
the applicant must join the IEEE (if not a member at the application time) and provide their IEEE
membership number to receive the award.

4. There are no citizenship requirements.

5. There is no limit to the number of applicants from an institution. However, awards are limited to
one per faculty mentor.

6. Applicants are permitted to compete for the award more than once. A given student will be awarded
this scholarship only once.

Application Deadlines: April 15 and October 15. Application form and

more details can be found at:

https://mtt.org/students/

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MMM.2022.3232882

 11-16 June 2023

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Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MMM.2022.3232884
Microwave Magazine and MTT Society Officers
Editor
Robert H. Caverly, Villanova University,
USA, microwave.editor@ieee.org
Assistant Editor
Sharri Shaw, JWM Consulting LLC, USA,
microedt@outlook.com
Associate Editors
Nuno Borges Carvalho, University of Aveiro,
Portugal, nbcarvalho@ua.pt Volume 24 • Number 4 • April 2023 • ISSN 1527-3342
Simone Bastioli, RS Microwave, NJ, USA,
sbastioli@rsmicro.com
Chia-Chan Chang, National Chung-Cheng
University, Taiwan, ccchang@ee.ccu.edu.tw
Ali Darwish, American University in Cairo, features
Egypt, ali@darwish.org
Christian Fager, Chalmers University of Technology,
Sweden, christian.fager@chalmers.se
30 Robustly Operating
Kenneth E. Kolodziej, MIT Lincoln Passive Near-Field Communication Systems
Laboratory, kenneth.kolodziej@ll.mit.edu in Metal Environments
Jianguo Ma, Guangdong University of Jasmin Grosinger
Technology, China, mjg@gdut.edu.cn
Alfy Riddle, Quanergy Systems, Inc., Sunnyvale,
CA, USA, alfred.riddle@quanergy.com
Luca Roselli, University of Perugia, Italy,
40 S-Parameters for Calculating
urlofi@tin.it; luca.roselli@unipg.it
Kamal Samanta, Sony Europe, U.K.,
the Maximum Efficiency of
kmlsamanta@googlemail.com
Almudena Suarez, University of Cantabria,
a MIMO-WPT System
Spain, almudena.suarez@unican.es Applicable to Near/Far Field Coupling,
Anding Zhu, University College Dublin, Capacitive/Magnetic Coupling
Ireland, anding.zhu@ucd.ie Qiaowei Yuan
Columns and Departments
MicroBusiness
Fred Schindler, Newtonville, MA, USA, 49 Dielectric Spectroscopy
m.schindler@ieee.org Revealing the True Colors of Biological Matter
Health Matters
James C. Lin, University of Illinois-Chicago, Marie Mertens, Maede Chavoshi, Olivia Peytral-Rieu,
Chicago, IL, USA, lin@uic.edu Katia Grenier, and Dominique Schreurs
Microwave Surfing
Rajeev Bansal, University of Connecticut, Storrs,
CT, USA, rajeev@engr.uconn.edu
Book Reviews
63 Microwave LC Oscillators
James Chu, Kennesaw State University, Marietta, Multimode Switching Techniques
GA, USA, jameschu@bellsouth.net Pei Qin, Quan Xue, and Wenquan Che
Education Corner
Wenquan Che, Nanjing University of Science
and Technology, China, yeeren_che@163.com
Women in Microwaves
Sherry Hess, Cadence Design Systems, Inc.,
sherry.hess.us@ieee.org
Membership News
Bela Szendrenyi, Advantest, San Jose, CA,
USA, bela.szendrenyi@advantest.com
New Products
Ken Mays, The Boeing Company, WA, USA,
microwave.newproducts@ieee.org
In Memoriam Contributions
Jerry Hausner, USA, j.hausner@ieee.org
Ombuds Officer
Edward C. Niehenke, Niehenke Consulting,
USA, e.niehenke@ieee.org
IEEE Periodicals Magazines Department
AndreAnna McLean, Managing Editor
Katie Sullivan, Senior Manager, Journals Production
Janet Dudar, Senior Art Director
Gail A. Schnitzer, Associate Art Director
Theresa L. Smith, Production Coordinator
Felicia Spagnoli, Advertising Production Manager
Peter M. Tuohy, Production Director
Kevin Lisankie, Editorial Services Director
Dawn Melley, Senior Director, Publishing Operations
Advertising Sales
Mark David, Director, Business Development—
Media & Advertising
+1 732 465 6473, fax +1 732 981 1855
on the cover:
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MMM.2022.3224624 ©SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/GREENBUTTERFLY

IEEE prohibits discrimination, harassment, and

bullying. For more information, visit http://www.ieee.
April 2023 org/web/aboutus/whatis/policies/p9-26.html. 3
 columns & departments
6 From the Editor’s Desk
■ Robert H. Caverly
A Look at the April Issue
IEEE Microwave Theory and Technology Society
The IEEE Microwave Theory and Technology Society (MTT-S) is 8 President’s Column
an organization, within the framework of the IEEE, of members
with principal professional interests in the field of microwave
■ Nuno Borges Carvalho
theory and technology. All Members of IEEE are eligible for Education and Awareness of Microwave Activities
membership in the Society. Information about joining IEEE
or the Society is available on the web, http://www.ieee.org/
membership. 12 MicroBusiness
MTT-S AdCom ■ Fred Schindler
The Society is managed by an Administrative Committee
(AdCom) consisting of 22 elected members of the Society Tribalism
plus additional ex-officio members as provided in the MTT-S
Constitution and Bylaws, which is available on the web,
http://www.mtt.org. 14 Book/Software Reviews
Officers
■ James Chu
President: Nuno Borges Carvalho An Alternative Method for Learning Microwave
President-Elect: Maurizio Bozzi
Secretary: Valentina Palazzi Filter Design Theory
Treasurer: Kamran Ghorbani
Elected Members 16 MTT-S Society News
Jaleel Akhtar Jasmin Grosinger
Joseph Bardin Amelie Hagelauer
■ Dominique Baillargeat and Johannes Russer
Maurizio Bozzi Sridhar Kanamaluru Technical Committee 8 Report
James Buckwalter Dietmar Kissinger
Nuno Borges Carvalho Imran Mehdi
Robert H. Caverly Frederick H. Raab
■ Alberto Valdes-Garcia and James Buckwalter
Goutam Chattopadhyay Jose Rayas-Sanchez Technical Committee 14 Report
Wenquan Che Tushar Sharma
J.C. Chiao Naoki Shinohara
Terry Cisco Anding Zhu 22 Around the Globe
Kamran Ghorbani
Xun Gong ■ Naomi C. Robertson
Ex-Officio Members An Introduction to Black Holes
Immediate Past Presidents: Rashaunda Henderson* (2022)
Gregory Lyons* (2021)
Alaa Abunjaileh* (2020) 82 Women in Microwaves
Honorary Life Members* ■ Sherry Hess
(max. three votes): Józef Modelski The Rich History of Women in Tech
John T. Barr IV
Peter Staecker
Richard Snyder
Manfred Schindler 84 Conference Report
■ Quan Xue, Wenquan Che, Haoshen Zhu,
MTT-S Publications
IEEE Trans. Microwave Wanchen Yang, Wenjie Feng, Shaowei Liao,
Theory & Techniques Editor: Almudena Suarez Rodriguez* Xiang Yi, and Pei Qin
IEEE Microwave & Wireless
Components Letters Editor: Roberto Gomez-Garcia* The IMWS-AMP 2022 Postconference Report
IEEE Microwave Magazine Editor: Robert H. Caverly
IEEE Trans. Terahertz Science &
Technology Editor: Nuria Llombart Juan* 88 Educator’s Corner
IEEE Journal of Electromagnetics, ■ Nathan Hunt, Jonathan Scott, and Lee Streeter
RF, and Microwaves in Medicine
and Biology Editor: Yongxin Guo Nano Versus Commercial
IEEE Journal on Multiscale and
Multiphysics Computational
Techniques Editor: Costas Sarris 96 Enigmas, etc.
IEEE Journal of Microwaves Editor: Peter Siegel* ■ Takashi Ohira
*Indicates voting AdCom ex-officio member
Solution to Last Month’s Quiz

IEEE Microwave Magazine (ISSN 1527-3342) (IEMMFF) is published 12 times 98 Conference Calendar
a year by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. Headquarters: 3 Park
Avenue, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10016-5997 USA. Responsibility for the contents
rests upon the authors and not upon the IEEE, the Society, or its members. IEEE Service
Center (for orders, subscriptions, address changes): 445 Hoes Lane, Piscataway, NJ 08854.
Telephone: +1 732 981 0060, +1 800 678 4333. Individual copies: IEEE members US$20.00
(first copy only), nonmembers US$38.00 per copy. Subscription rates: Subscriptions for
Society members are included with membership dues. Nonmember subscription rates
available upon request. Copyright and reprint permissions: Abstracting is permitted
with credit to the source. Libraries are permitted to photocopy beyond the limits of U.S.
Copyright law for the private use of patrons those articles that carry a code at the bottom
of the first page, provided the per-copy fee is paid through the Copyright Clearance
Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923 USA. For other copying, reprint, or
republication permission, write Copyrights and Permissions Department, IEEE Service
Center, 445 Hoes Lane, Piscataway, NJ 08854 USA. Copyright © 2023 by the Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. All rights reserved. Periodicals postage paid at
New York, N.Y., and at additional mailing offices. Ride along enclosed. Postmaster: Send
address changes to IEEE Microwave Magazine, IEEE Operations Center, 445 Hoes Lane,
Piscataway, NJ 08854 USA. Canadian GST #125634188
PRINTED IN THE USA
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MMM.2022.3224626

4 April 2023
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A Look at the April Issue
■ Robert H. Caverly
W
elcome to the April
2023 issue of IEEE
Microwave Maga-
zine. This month’s theme has
a very similar theme to sev-
eral issues in the first quarter
of 2022: research by women in
microwaves. This month, we
focus on more contributions
to microwave technology by
s e ve r a l wo m e n r e s e a r c h -
ers from the United States,
Europe, and China. Several
years ago, I recall having con-
versations with several AdCom and
other members of the Microwave
Theory and Technology (MTT) com-
munity about a focus issue for IEEE
Microwave Magazine that highlights
research performed by women in
the microwave engineering field.
Last year’s focus issues were the
result of these conversations, and
this month’s issue continues this
hopef u l ly new t radit ion for t he
magazine. I would like to thank our
Robert H. Caverly (robert.caverly@villanova.
edu) is with Villanova University, Villanova,
PA 19085 USA.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MMM.2023.3234344
Date of current version: 10 March 2023
6 April 2023
The next technical feature by
Mertens et al. [A3] describes
using typical microwave labo-
ratory vector network analyz-
ers (VNAs) to observe unique
reflected frequency signatures
from biological materials as
a way to deter m i ne t hei r
various biological character-
istics. T h e l a s t t e c h n i c a l
f e a t u r e, authored by Qi n
et al. [A4], covers design tech-
IMAGE LICENSED BY INGRAM PUBLISHING
niques that can be employed
to increase the tuning range
guest editor, Jasmin Grosinger, for of these widely used oscillator cir-
this month’s issue and for writing a cuit topologies.
technical article for the focus issue As w it h ever y mont h, IEEE
as well as for working with the oth- Microwave Theory and Technology
er authors, to give us a total of four Soc iet y (MTT-S) President Nu no
technical features. Borges Carvalho provides his message
The first article by Grosinger [A1] about some aspect of the Society. This
looks at ultralow-power microwave month, Nuno [A5] discusses the MTT-S
circuits and systems that help meet AdCom’s efforts to increase aware-
some of the needs and challenges of ness about microwave engineering by
Internet of Things applications. The highlighting the Education Committee
second technical feature by Yuan and Membership and Geographic
[A2] presents an approach using Activities Committee Activities and
S-parameters to calculate the wire- their respective chairpersons. Keeping
less power transfer efficiency for both with the MTT AdCom theme, we
single-input, single-output as well as have reports [A6], [A7] from two of the
multiple-input, multiple-output sys- MTT-S Technical Committees (TCs)
tems and provides some examples
to show the benefits of the method. (continued on page 15)
Take the Lead
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» comsol.com/feature/rf-innovation
Education and Awareness of Microwave Activities
■ Nuno Borges Carvalho

E
ducators, students, Young Pro- increase our ability to educate students stage Ph.D. students to attend MTT-S-
fessionals (YPs), and engineers in areas that they usually consider com- sponsored conferences in 2023. The
worldwide love to meet and plex but that can be transformed into motivation is to help this group of stu-
discuss IEEE activities. The IEEE Mi- exciting and enthusiastic topics that are dents carry out quality future research.
crowave Theory and Technology Soci- simple to understand and unique and New science, technology, engineering,
ety (MTT-S) is there to help when that can contribute to the advance- and mathematics activities to engage
we discuss activities related ment in human sustainability on K-12 students will be proposed in 2023.
to m icrowave t heor y Earth in a way that we can- In addition, low-cost portable vector
and technologies. not imagine. In the MTT-S, network analyzers and test kits will be
In December, I was we have two committees acquired from Amazon and distributed
present as a speak- that promote these ac- to MTT-S Chapters or Student Branches
er at the YP in Space tivities in our commu- based on needs and requests. Finally,
event, which was nity: the Education three ebooks focusing on tutorial topics
organized in Sousse, Committee and the will be published by the end of 2023.
Tunisia. Our col- IMAGE LICENSED BY INGRAM PUBLISHING Membership and The Education Committee will be
leagues there created Geographic Activi- chaired by Xun Gong (Senior Mem-
a symposium dedicated to IEEE YPs, ties (MGA) Committee. This month’s ber of IEEE) (Figure 2). Xun received
and they meet yearly. More than 1,100 focus is on those committees. his B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical
YPs and students came from all parts engineering from Fudan University,
of Tunisia to discuss topics related to 2023 Education Shanghai, China, in 1997 and 2000, re-
IEEE, electrical engineering, and com- Committee Activities spectively, and his Ph.D. degree in elec-
puter-based issues that are at the core of In 2023, the Education Committee trical engineering from the University
their discussions. Like any young team, will continue the Distinguished Mi- of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 2005. He
they also network to celebrate technol- crowave Instructor (DMI) program
ogy. Figure 1 is a photo of the chair and to attract undergraduate students at Nuno Borges Carvalho
cochairs of the IEEE Tunisian Students the freshman/sophomore level. Three (nbcarvalho@ua.pt),
and Young Professionals. DMI workshops will be organized for 2023 MTT-S president,
This is where the future of our Soci- 1) Regions 1–7 and 9; 2) Region 8; and is with the Department
ety lies; it is essential to increase aware- 3) Region 10, respectively. It is expect- of Electronics,
ness of microwave engineering and ed that DMIs will travel to some uni- Telecommunications,
and Informatics,
versities to meet these undergraduate
University of Aveiro,
students. A new Ph.D. initiative was
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MMM.2022.3233799 Aveiro 3810-193 Portugal.
Date of current version: 10 March 2023 approved in 2022 to support early-

8 April 2023
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Figure 1. The MTT-S president and the organizers of the IEEE Tunisian Students and
Young Professionals and the YP in Space event. (From left): Nawres Ben Rhouma, Aziz Ben
Kbaier, Nuno Borges Carvalho, and Ala Chalghaf.
is currently a professor of electrical and
computer engineering at the University
of Central Florida and the director of
the Antenna, RF, and Microwave Inte-
grated Systems Laboratory.
He is an elected Administrative
Committee (AdCom) member of the
MTT-S for the period 2021–2023. He
serves as the assistant treasurer and
vice-chair of the Education Committee.
He was appointed as the chair of the
Education Committee in 2023. He pre-
viously served as the MTT-TC-5 chair
(2021–2022) and vice-chair (2019–2020).
Figure 2. Xun Gong, chair of the
Education Committee in MTT AdCom.
10
2023 MGA Committee Activities
The MGA Committee is the interface
between the MTT-S membership at
large and the activities and leadership
of the Society. The MTT-S has more
than 250 Chapters all over the globe,
and the MGA Committee, in coordina-
tion with the Chapter officers, helps
plan for Chapter activities such as
Distinguished Microwave Lectures;
workshops; the Special Interest Group
on Humanitarian Technology (SIGHT)
events; YP and Women in Microwave
(WiM) activities; and many others. In
Figure 3. Goutam Chattopadhyay, chair
of the MGA Committee in MTT AdCom.
collaboration with the MTT-S Educa-
tion Committee and Meetings and
Symposium (M&S) Committee, the
MGA Committee puts together dif-
ferent activities at conferences, such
as YP and WiM programs; Ph.D. stu-
dent initiatives; undergraduate and
faculty activities; mentor/mentee
programs; and others. Through the
Ombuds Officer program, the MGA
Committee also answers queries of
general members regarding MTT-S
activities. The MTT-S MGA Commit-
tee is the conduit through which the
next generation of MTT-S leaders is
identified and prepared for leader-
ship roles. The leadership position at
the Student Branch Chapters acts as
another training ground for young
students and professionals to be the
technology leaders of the MHz to
THz community.
This year, the MGA Committee
will be chaired by Goutam Chattopad-
hyay (Figure 3). He is a senior scientist
at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
California Institute of Technology
(Caltech) and a visiting professor at
the Division of Physics, Mathemat-
ics, and Astronomy at Caltech, Pasa-
dena, CA, USA. He received his Ph.D.
degree in electrical engineering from
Caltech in 2000. He is a Fellow of IEEE
and IETE (India) and has been an IEEE
Distinguished Lecturer. His research
interests include microwave, millime-
ter-wave, and terahertz receiver sys-
tems and radars and the development
of space instruments to search for life
beyond Earth. He has more than 350
publications in international journals
and conferences and holds more than
20 patents. He also received more than
35 NASA technical achievement and
new technology invention awards. He
is an elected AdCom member of the
MTT-S and currently chairs the MGA
Committee. Before this, he was the
chair of the M&S Committee and the
assistant treasurer.
I encourage you to visit our website
(https://www.mtt.org) for more infor-
mation about the MTT-S and volunteer
opportunities.
April 2023
Tribalism
■ Fred Schindler

M
any of us enjoy watching
and participating in sports.
Team sports, amateur and
professional, let us associate with a
group—a surrogate tribe. I live in the
Boston area, which we like to refer to

as title town, and we are fanatical about
our Red Sox, Bruins, Celtics, and Patri-
ots. These teams play games that take
the place of battles between tribes. We
relish our victories against the “evil”
teams representing New York. These
games excite and energize us. In some
ways, they are emotional substitutes for
real battles. Occasionally, passions boil
over and result in real violence on the
field and off.
As I’m writing this, the 2022 World
Cup just had its final match. Congrat-
ulations to Argentina! The World Cup
and the Olympics provide a place for
countries to compete. Here, too, we
are energized and excited. Are these
useful surrogates for war? Are they a
relief valve that allows us to vent our
resentments and express our pride?
Or are they just tools to profit from our
Fred Schindler (m.schindler@ieee.org)
consults on management issues in the Boston,
Massachusetts, area.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MMM.2022.3233476
Date of current version: 10 March 2023
enthusiasm or distract us from more
meaningful concerns?
There is tribalism in business too.
Companies compete with each other.
We compete in the marketplace; we
compete for investors; and we compete
for talent. Most companies want their
employees to feel an affinity for the
organization; to show some loyalty;
and to see competitors as rivals. I’ve
enjoyed challenging my local competi-
tors to soccer (football), softball, and
other matches. We are friendly com-
petitors in the marketplace. Why not
on the playing field, too?
Universities also compete with
one another. They compete for re-
search funding, for talent, and for
prestige. Some also compete in sport-
ing events, especially in the United
©SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/SHUTTER.B
States. There are rich and longstand-
ing rivalries between universities.
We seem to create tribalism every-
where we are.
So, of course, there is tribalism in
microwave technology. I recall at-
tending some exciting panel sessions
in the 1990s. GaAs monolithic micro-
wave integrated circuit technology
had been primarily developed around
the field-effect transistor (FET) since
its inception. The FET had evolved into
the pseudomorphic HEMT (pHEMT),
which was by then showing impres-
sive results as a power, low noise, and
switch device. A more recent develop-
ment had been the heterojunction bi-
polar transistor (HBT). By the 1990s, a
number of groups had demonstrated
its capabilities as a microwave power

12 April 2023
device. The panel sessions were battles
between advocates for the pHEMT
and the HBT.
It was tribalism. I was in the pHEMT
camp. I worked in an organization that
had a strong FET heritage and was
demonstrating some excellent pHEMT
performance. The HBT camp was even
more enthusiastic, representing an up-
start device. In some ways, it was useful
tension—we were energized to com-
pete and develop ever better devices.
But it was also a distraction.
With time, have we learned which
device is better? It turns out they each
have a place, and both continue to be
developed and manufactured. The
was no need to prove which device
was best. Instead, what we should
have done is determine what each de-
vice was best at doing—how to best
apply each device.
Around the same time, there was a
competition in the application space,
between 2G mobile phone standards.
In Europe, the Global System for
Mobile Communications (GSM) had
been adopted. It used time-division
multiple access (TDMA). In the United
States, a different TDMA standard
was developed, Digital Advanced
Mobile Phone System (D-AMPS). A
code-division multiple access (CMDA)
standard was introduced not long af-
ter. We had carriers providing 2G ser-
vice with GSM, NADC/TDMA, and
CDMA. There was a significant com-
petition between the carriers and their
standards. Tribal lines were drawn.
With time, it became clear that al-
though CDMA is more difficult to im-
plement, it provides far more efficient
use of bandwidth. With the advance-
ment of electronics being what it is,
complexity is ever easier to achieve, so
the added complexity of CDMA didn’t
turn out to be a significant barrier. For
microwave technologists, it meant we
needed to develop linear amplifiers
and work at improving efficiency. The
2G tribalism continued as 2.5G capabili-
ties rolled out. Even though 3G and 4G
were based on CDMA, it is only recent-
ly that schism has disappeared among
mobile network operators as 2G access
is phased out.
We see plenty of other controver-
sies—Si versus GaAs; GaN on SiC ver-
sus GaN on Si; and the legitimacy of
composite right/left-hand techniques,
to name a few. Advocates for either side
of these issues almost always cite data,
figures of merit, calculations, and anal-
ysis—facts that are beyond reproach.
But, of course, these are selective facts.
People always reference the facts that
support their side of the argument. Just
as we can’t determine if HBT or pHEMT
is a universally better technology, we
can’t say if Si is universally better than
GaAs. Yes, Si dominates, but for some
applications, GaAs has advantages.
We see similar tribalism and selec-
tive use of data outside of science and
technology. Facts used to be a given, but
now, they are variables. Everyone seems
to have their own facts. For the most
part, we don’t have an issue with peo-
ple making up their own facts in the
microwave technology space. But we
certainly have the selective use of facts.
Let’s go back to the HBT versus
pHEMT controversy. Both sides pre-
sented their case, supported by hard
data, physical characteristics, and inher-
ent properties. There may have been
some hyperbole, but for the most part,
everyone spoke the truth. And, in the
end, each device was superior for certain
uses. We needed a broader perspective—
it wasn’t about identifying the winner;
it was identifying where each would
win. Tribalism generates creative energy,
but it also blinds us. Tribalism can be
constructive, but it can also be counter-
productive. Sometimes we need to take
a step back and a deep breath.
Go Celtics!

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April 2023 13
An Alternative Method for Learning Microwave
Filter Design Theory
■ James Chu
A
yushman Raghuvanshi received
his B.Tech. degree in electri-
cal engineering from National
Institute of Technology Rourkela. He
is an analog design intern with Texas
Instruments. He is also an intern with
the Defense Research and Develop-
ment Organization.
Dr. Rakesh Sinha received his B.Tech.
degree in electronics and communica-
tion engineering from Kalyani Govern-
ment Engineering College, Kalyani,
India, in 2008, and his M.Tech. and
Ph.D. degrees in RF and microwave
engineering from the Indian Institute
of Technology, Kharagpur, India, in
2011 and 2016, respectively. Sinha has a
number of IEEE publications on phase-
shifting [1] and multisection matching
networks with desired phase shifts [2].
This excellent article on microwave
filter design, which can be accessed
James Chu (jameschu@bellsouth.net), IEEE
Senior Life Member, is an adjunct professor at
the Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering,
Kennesaw State University, Marietta,
GA 30060 USA.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MMM.2022.3233477
Date of current version: 10 March 2023
14
on IEEE TechRxiv at https://tinyurl.
com/26ut7ffd, is designed to help many
engineering college students under-
stand the mechanism behind filter de-
sign and realization, especially in the
case of analog and microwave filters.
There are many filter design software
packages, but one way or another, they
are not fit to the low-cost tool for filter
design. This article introduces the au-
thors’ developed Microwave Filter De-
sign Kit to fill in this gap and to provide
solutions based on various polynomials,
along with microwave implementation
of the filters. The package includes the
scattering parameters of the filter for
extended analysis. The simple user in-
terface makes it easy for new students to
try filter synthesis themselves. It estab-
lishes a clear link between filter design
components and the mathematical mod-
el of the filter, making it a crucial aid for
instructing undergraduate students.
The design kit works on the princi-
ple of insertion loss: it takes specifica-
tions from the user through the simple
user interface and uses these specifi-
cations to design a normalized unit
source impedance and unit cutoff fre-
quency of a low-pass filter prototype.
It develops the prototype from two
available polynomials: Butterworth
and Chebyshev. The Butterworth
polynomial has a maximally flat re-
sponse in the passband, whereas the
Chebyshev one provides control over
passband ripples. After designing a
prototype filter, it scales the element
values to match the source imped-
ance and transforms the prototype
elements to achieve the desired filter
type based on user selection.
The authors explain two types of
filters topologies: lumped filter and
distributed filter design, and the ap-
plications of both. In the article, the au-
thors gave many examples on different
type of filters, including the circuit de-
sign, analysis, and simulation, by fol-
lowing their Microwave Filter Design
Kit procedure.
This design kit is a multifunctional
package with enormous potential. It
automates the filter design and real-
ization process, developing various
implementations for high-frequency
applications. It complements the de-
sign of projects by providing filters
of precise specifications. Moreover, it
links the mathematical model and an
actual filter, helping engineering stu-
dents and academicians with the filter
April 2023
design methodology and giving them
the freedom to design filters easily.
This kit can be downloaded by visit-
ing the IEEE DataPort at https://ieee
-dataport.org/documents/microwave
-filter-design-kit. The author, Sinha,
has posted many very interesting and
short educational articles on LinkedIn,
and readers can contact him through
his posts there.
From the Editor’s Desk (continued from page 6)
describing their activities over the
last two years, which include a sig-
nificant amount of time under the
restrictions of the pandemic. The two
reports are provided by TC-8 and
TC-14, the TCs on RF Nanotechnol-
ogy and Microwave and Mm-Wave
Integrated Circuits, respectively, and
show no slowdown in activity due to
the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.
In [A8], we have a contribution first
published in the James Clerk Maxwell
Foundation Newsletter on black holes
as well a short sidebar that describes
how microwave engineering is used
in radio astronomy. Moving to other
columns, one of the microwave engi-
neer’s key measurement instruments
is the VNA. Over the last few years,
low-cost VNAs have been increasingly
used in microwave and RF education
to provide students the opportunity to
explore microwave measurement tech-
niques, either in a laboratory setting
or at home. As an educator myself, I
have used the NanoVNA in my under-
graduate laboratories and can attest
to improved student understanding
of S-parameter measurements. I, as
well as many other educators, have
also observed the limitations of these
low-cost NanoVNAs, and so, Jonathan
Scott provides a detailed measure-
ment comparison of these low-cost
NanoVNAs compared with commer-
cial/industrial grade VNAs and helps
answer the question, “How much
can be done with a NanoVNA, and
April 2023
In conclusion, this article gave a
very good explanation of how the
Microwave Filter Design Kit works.
Based on this article, it seems that this
design kit is an alternative way for
engineering college students to use
this CAD software program to learn
microwave filter design theory and
practice without breaking a school’s
bank account.
what can’t you get without a full-cost
VNA?” [A9].
We also have many of our regular
columns this month. In [A10], Fred
Schindler talks about teams of all sorts,
whether in sports or business. In [A11],
an open source microwave filter design
software package is reviewed by James
Chu. In [A12], we cover a summary of
the activities at the 2022 IEEE MTT-S
International Microwave Workshop
Series on Advanced Materials and Pro-
cesses for RF and THz Applications
held in Guangzhou, China, in mid-
December 2022. We finish up the issue
with Sherry Hess’s column [A13] on a
series of videos highlighting impor-
tant women in engineering, Takashi
Ohira’s solution [A14] to last month’s
puzzle, and our summary [A15] of up-
coming MTT-affiliated conferences.
See you next month, and enjoy this
month’s issue!
Appendix: Related Articles
[A1] J. Grosinger, “Robustly operating,” IEEE Mi-
crow. Mag., vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 30–39, Apr. 2023,
doi: 10.1109/MMM.2022.3233508.
[A2] Q. Yuan, “S-parameters for calculating
the maximum efficiency of a MIMO-
WPT system,” IEEE Microw. Mag., vol. 24,
no. 4, pp. 40–48, Apr. 2023, doi: 10.1109/
MMM.2022.3233509.
[A3] M. Mertens, M. Chavoshi, O. Peytral-
Rieu, K. Grenier, and D. Schreurs, “Di-
electric spectroscopy,” IEEE Microw.
Mag., vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 49–62, Apr. 2023,
doi: 10.1109/MMM.2022.3233510.
[A4] P. Qin, Q. Xue, and W. Che, “Microwave
LC oscillators,” IEEE Microw. Mag., vol. 24,
no. 4, pp. 63–81, Apr. 2023, doi: 10.1109/
MMM.2022.3233511.
References
[1] R. Sinha and A. De, “Synthesis of multiport
networks using port decomposition technique
and its applications,” IEEE Trans. Microw.
Theory Techn., vol. 64, no. 4, pp. 1228–1244,
Apr. 2016, doi: 10.1109/TMTT.2016.2532868.
[2] R. Sinha, “Computer-aided design of mul-
tisection matching networks with desired
phase-shift,” IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst., II, Exp.
Briefs, vol. 69, no. 12, pp. 5074–5078, Dec. 2022,
doi: 10.1109/TCSII.2022.3201114.
[A5] N. B. Carvalho, “Education and aware-
ness of microwave activities [President’s
Column],” IEEE Microw. Mag., vol. 24,
no. 4, pp. 8–10, Apr. 2023, doi: 10.1109/
MMM.2022.3233799.
[A6] D. Baillargeat and J. Russer, “Tech-
nical committee 8 report [MTT-S Soci-
ety News],” IEEE Microw. Mag., vol. 24,
no. 4, pp. 16–19, Apr. 2023, doi: 10.1109/
MMM.2022.3233462.
[A7] A. Valdes-Garcia and J. Buckwalter,
“Technical committee 14 report [MTT-S
Society News],” IEEE Microw. Mag., vol.
24, no. 4, pp. 19–21, Apr. 2023, doi: 10.1109/
MMM.2022.3233461.
[A8] N. C. Robertson, “An introduction to black
holes [Around the Globe],” IEEE Microw.
Mag., vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 22–28, Apr. 2023,
doi: 10.1109/MMM.2022.3233478.
[A9] N. Hunt, J. Scott, and L. Streeter, “Nano ver-
sus commercial [Educator’s Corner],” IEEE
Microw. Mag., vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 88–95, Apr.
2023, doi: 10.1109/MMM.2022.3233500.
[A10] F. S c h i nd ler, “Tr iba l i sm [M ic roBu si-
ness],” IEEE Microw. Mag., vol. 24, no. 4, pp.
12–13, Apr. 2023, doi: 10.1109/MMM.2022.
3233476.
[A11] J. Chu, “An alternative method for learn-
ing microwave filter design theory [Book/
Software Reviews],” IEEE Microw. Mag.,
vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 14–15, Apr. 2023, doi:
10.1109/MMM.2022.3233477.
[A12] Q. Xue et al., “The IMWS-AMP 2022 post-
conference report [Conference Report],” IEEE
Microw. Mag., vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 84–87, Apr.
2023, doi: 10.1109/MMM.2022.3233491.
[A13] S. Hess, “The rich history of women in
tech [Women in Microwaves],” IEEE Mi-
crow. Mag., vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 82–83, Apr.
2023, doi: 10.1109/MMM.2022.3233490.
[A14] T. Ohira, “Solution to last month’s quiz
[Enigmas, etc.]” IEEE Microw. Mag., vol.
24, no. 4, p. 96, Apr. 2023, doi: 10.1109/
MMM.2022.3233506.
[A15] “Conference calendar,” IEEE Microw. Mag.,
vol. 24, no. 4, p. 98, Apr. 2023, doi: 10.1109/
MMM.2022.3233507.
15
Technical Committee 8 Report
■ Dominique Baillargeat and Johannes Russer

T
echnical Committee (TC) 8 is
the IEEE Microwave Theory and
Technology Society (MTT-S)
TC on RF Nanotechnology, and our
website can be found at https://mtt.
org/tech n ical-com m it tees/tc-8 -rf

IMAGE LICENSED BY INGRAM PUBLISHING

-nanotechnology-committee/.
TC-8 focuses on future electronic
systems, including those for com-
munications, sensors, imaging, and
advanced medical applications, that
will face substantially increasing
demands and challenges. Nanotech-
nology is expected to be an enabling
technology for many of the new elec-
tronic devices and circuits that these
systems will require. Only through Our activities are often in collabora- Russer as vice chair, TC-8 had 23 mem-
new nanoelectronic devices based tion with several other MTT-S commit- bers, two Young Professional mem-
on novel materials and nanotech- tees, and our fields of interest include bers, and one affiliate member in 2021
nology will we be able to go beyond the following: and 2022, including nine IEEE Fellows.
Moore’s law and respond adequately • the modeling and simulation of New members are added to the com-
to these challenges. devices, circuits, and systems mittee through nomination and voting
• optimization techniques by the committee members. During
• multiphysics modeling 2021 and 2022, two Young Professional
• nanomaterials, nanofabrication members and one affiliate member
Dominique Baillargeat (dominique.
technology on 2D materials, plas- were added. The members of TC-8
baillargeat@xlim.fr) is with University of
Limoges/Centre National de la Recherche monics, and spintronics represent a wide variety of nanotech-
Scientifique (XLIM Institute), 87000 Limoges, • characterization techniques for nologies for RF applications from both
France. Johannes Russer (jrusser@tum.de) is nanocomponents. academia and industry as well as from
with Technische Universität München, 80333 various parts of the globe, including
Munich, Germany.
Membership North America, Europe, and Asia.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MMM.2022.3233462
Chaired by Prof. Dominique Bail- The members of TC-8 are expected
Date of current version: 10 March 2023 largeat, with Assistant Prof. Johannes to be active in the field of nanomaterials

16 April 2023
and nanotechnologies for RF appli-
cations and to participate in MTT-S
and TC-8 activities related to TC-8’s
fields of interest. During the two last
years, TC-8 members contributed
to the nomination of Distinguished
Microwave Lecturers as well as to
proposals for workshops and focus
sessions for the MTT-S International
Microwave Symposium (IMS). TC-8
members also play pivotal roles in
several MTT-S-sponsored confer-
ences, including the IEEE MTT-S
International Conference on Numeri-
cal Electromagnetic (EM) and Multi-
physics Modeling and Optimization
(NEMO2022), the International Scien-
tific Radio Union (URSI) U.S. Nation-
al Radio Science Meeting (NRSM),
and others. TC-8 members also rep-
resent the MTT-S in the IEEE Nano-
technology Council (NTC) and chair
the Nanomaterials Committee of the
NTC. TC-8 members give keynote
and other important talks related to
nanotechnology and nanocompo-
nents dedicated to RF applications. In
addition, over the period, TC-8 also
contributed to a focus issue related
to nanoscale ferroelectrics in IEEE
Microwave Magazine.
Activities Report
(2021 and 2022)
Prestigious IEEE Awards
Presented to TC Members
Over the Period
Stephen Goodnick received the Dis-
tinguished Educator Award from the
MTT-S in 2021. The Distinguished
Educator Award recognizes a distin-
guished educator in the field of mi-
crowave engineering and science who
best exemplifies the special human
qualities of Fred Rosenbaum, who
considered teaching a high calling and
demonstrated his dedication to the So-
ciety through tireless service.
Names of Members Elevated to
Fellow of IEEE Over the Period
Dominique Baillargeat was elevated
to Fellow of IEEE for contributions to
developments of nanomaterials for
April 2023
RF packaging and sensors. In 2022, 13
honorees were awarded the status of
Fellow of IEEE with the MTT-S as the
evaluating Society.
Distinguished Microwave
Lecturers of the TC
Our Distinguished Lecturers gave
virtual and in-person talks during
the period:
• James C.M. Hwang delivered 10
talks in 2021 in virtual format
and 20 talks in 2022 in person, in
Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Afri-
ca, Europe, and the United States.
• Goutam Chattopadhyay gave
two talks in person and at least
35 talks virtually in 2021.
• Luca Pierantoni gave the talk
“Multiphysics Modeling of the EM
Transport Problems in Nanodevic-
es: A New Challenge in Computa-
tional Engineering” several times.
Total Number of Papers
Published by TC Members
Over the Period
Over the period, more than 50 papers
and articles were published by TC-8
members in IEEE transactions and
other high-level journals relevant to
the fields of interest of our committee.
Workshops Organized by TC-8
Workshops and special sessions were
organized at several conferences. These
workshops and sessions addressed
diverse topics related to the fields of
interest of TC-8.
At IMS2021, TC-8 sponsored the
workshop “Materials by Design for
Microwave and Millimeter-Wave
(mm-Wave) Communications.” The
workshop was organized by Nathan
Orloff and Mitch Wallis. This workshop
brought together researchers in materi-
als synthesis and experts in microwave
and mm-wave modeling to show how
devices based on new materials can be
designed and validated with computa-
tional and analytical approaches.
Eight special sessions were spon-
sored by TC-8 during the period.
These special sessions were organized
at several conferences, and they ad-
dressed diverse topics related to the
fields of interest of TC-8.
Four special sessions on “Micro-
wave Quantum Information Tech-
nology” were organized by Johannes
Russer (cochair of TC-8) and his
colleagues at URSI NRSM2021 and
NRSM2022 for the modeling of sto-
chastic EM problems, including those
in the context of microwave quantum
technologies, at the 2021 Interna-
tional Applied Computational Elec-
tromagnetics Society Symposium
(August 2021) and at the 15th Inter-
national Conference on Advanced
Technologies, Systems, and Services
in Telecommunications.
Two sessions were organized at the
IMS: one in 2021 by Dominique Bail-
largeat and Valentina Palazzi, “Addi-
tive Manufacturing-Based RF Sensors
and RFIDs for Rugged Internet of
Things and Digital Twins in Smart
Cities,” and one in 2022 by Jeong-Sun
Moon and David Brown, “Next-Gener-
ation mm-Wave Gallium Nitride Tech-
nologies and Monolithic Microwave
Integrated Circuits for 5G/6G and U.S.
Department of Defense Applications.”
Dimitri Pavlidis was involved in
the International Organizing Commit-
tee of two conferences, Wocsdice and
TWHM.
Kamel Haddadi organized two spe-
cial sessions during the period: one ses-
sion during NEMO2022 (July 2022 in
Limoges, France), “EM and Multiphys-
ics Multiscale Modeling and Charac-
terization for Advanced and Efficient
Materials,” and one session at the 2021
International Conference on Electro-
magnetics in Advanced Applications
(August 2021 in Honolulu, HI, USA).
Year/Issue of the TC’s
Last Focus Issue in IEEE
Nanotechnology Magazine
A special issue, “Nanoscale Ferroelec-
trics for Advanced Microwave Ap-
plications,” was organized by TC-8
with guest editors Luca Pierantoni
and Davide Mencarelli. The issue was
published in September 2021 and in-
cluded two articles. They report recent
developments in nanoferroelectrics.
17
The first, written by Dragoman et al.
[1], presents a comprehensive review
of emerging nanoscale ferroelectric
materials in novel nanoelectronics
devices, including phase shifters,
phased antenna arrays, filters, field-
effect transistors (FETs), ferroelectric
tunneling junctions, memristors/
memtransistors (neuromorphic nano-
electronics), and negative-capacitance
ferroelectric transistors. The second,
Figure 1. Information panel for the day’s sessions.
Figure 2. (From left) Prof. Dominique Baillargeat (NEMO2022 chair), Dr. Stéphane
Bila (NEMO2022 TPC chair), Prof. Rashaunda Henderson (2022 MTT-S president),
and Dr. Qi-Jun Zhang (NEMO ExCom chair) at the City Hall of Limoges for the
welcome reception.
18
by Das and Khan [2], discusses fer-
roelectricity in CMOS-compatible
hafnium oxides and the revival of fer-
roelectric FET technology. In particu-
lar, the demonstrated ferroelectricity,
low permittivity, high coercive field,
environmentally friendly composition,
and excellent CMOS compatibility in
doped thin-film hafnium is expected
to unleash the promise of ferroelec-
tric FETs.
Other News That Might Be
of Interest to the General
Microwave Community
Focus on NEMO2022
After an interruption in 2020 due to
COVID-19, the NEMO2022 was held
from 6 to 8 July in Limoges, France
(Figures 1 and 2). NEMO is an annual
event, founded by the MTT-S, focused
on EM and multiphysics-based CAD
(EM-CAD), that rotates among Eu-
rope, North America, and Asia. It aims
to stimulate a broad exploration of
“disruptive” technologies of EM-CAD
and traditional topics. The confer-
ence is sponsored by the MTT-S, and
the general chair was Dominique
Baillargeat. More than 120 attendees
participated in the conference. Five
half-day sessions were proposed by
the Organizing Committee compris-
ing technical and special sessions,
keynote speeches, and one focused
session. There were 16 technical ses-
sions with 10 regular sessions on
• machine learning, artificial in-
telligence (AI) and uncertainties,
and AI–deep learning for RF
component design
• EM and multiphysics multiscale
modeling and characterization for
advanced and efficient materials
• the modeling and design of pas-
sive circuits, of microwave filters,
and of antennas and networks
• advanced transmission-line matrix
methods for microwave applica-
tions and on the finite difference
time domain method for EM com-
patibility and microwave struc-
ture modeling
• recent advances in metasurface
technologies
and six special sessions:
• “Modeli ng, Simulat ion, a nd
Design of RF, mm-Wave, and
Terahertz Devices and Circuits”
(parts 1 and 2)
• “Computational Electromagnetics,
Algorithms, and Applications”
(parts 1 and 2)
• “Multiphysics Modeling and De-
sign of Microwave Circuits and
Components”
April 2023
 • “Modeling of Inverse EM Prob-
lems and Design of Metasurfaces.”
Plans for the Next Period
Plans for the next two years might be of
interest to the general microwave com-
munity. For IMS2023, TC-8 will spon-
sor the workshop “Quantum Circuits,
Methods, and Algorithms in EM and
Technical Committee 14 Report
■ Alberto Valdes-Garcia and James Buckwalter
T
echnical Committee (TC) 14 is
the IEEE Microwave Theory and
Technology Society (MTT-S)
TC on Microwave and Millimeter-
Wave (mm-Wave) Integrated Circuits
(ICs), with our website at https://
mtt.org/technical-committees/tc-14
-m icrowave-and-m illimeter-wave
-integrated-circuits-committee/.
The technical scope of TC-14 covers
ICs based on a broad range of semicon-
ductor technologies and operating
over a wide range of fre-
quencies across the spec-
trum from RF through
mm-waves. TC-14 areas
of interest also include
multiple forms of circuit
integration, from monolithic
ICs and multichip modules (MCMs)
to higher levels of system integration.
Since ICs are, by nature, at the inter-
section of many other technologies,
TC-14 has established joint working
Alberto Valdes-Garcia (avaldes@us.ibm.com)
is with IBM T.J. Watson Research Center,
Yorktown Heights, NY 10598 USA.
James Buckwalter (buckwalter@ece.
ucsb.edu) is with the University
of California, Santa Barbara,
Santa Barbara, CA 93106 USA.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MMM.2022.3233461
Date of current version: 10 March 2023
April 2023
Microwave Applications,” co-organized
by Johannes Russer, and the workshop
“Engineered Surfaces for EM Propaga-
tion Control in Emerging Applications,”
co-organized by Ryan Cadwell.
References
[1] M. Dragoman, M. Aldrigo, D. Dragoman, S.
Iordanescu, A. Dinescu, and M. Modreanu,
relationships with other MTT-S TCs.
These include RF and mm-wave
packaging, active device technolo-
gies, passive circuit technologies,
and system applications. Spe-
cific areas of interest to TC-14
include the following:
• silicon and silicon ger-
manium RFICs
• III-V-based monolithic mi-
crowave IC s ( M M IC s),
such as gallium nitride,
gallium arsenide, and in-
dium phosphide
• M M I C m a n u f a c t u r i n g a nd
reliability
• highly integrated, silicon-based
transmit and receive ICs
• beam-former ICs a nd
phased arrays
• IC and package co-design
• 5G and beyond 5G mm-
wave transceivers and
systems
• mm-wave ICs and systems
for sensing and communications.
Membership
In 2020–2021, TC-14 was chaired by
Dr. Alberto Valdes-Garcia from IBM
Research, with Prof. James Buckwal-
ter from the University of California,
Sa nta Barbara as t he vice chair.
“The rise of ferroelectricity at nanoscale:
Nanoelectronics is rediscovering the ferro-
electricity,” IEEE Nanotechnol. Mag., vol. 15,
no. 5, pp. 8–19, Oct. 2021, doi: 10.1109/MNA-
NO.2021.3098217.
[2] D. Das and A. I. Khan, “Ferroelectricity in
CMOS-compatible hafnium oxides: Reviv-
ing the ferroelectric field-effect transistor
technology,” IEEE Nanotechnol. Mag., vol. 15,
no. 5, pp. 20–32, Oct. 2021, doi: 10.1109/MNA-
NO.2021.3098218.
IMAGES LICENSED BY INGRAM PUBLISHING
In January 2022, Prof. Buckwalter
beca me t he TC c ha i r, and Prof.
Ah met Cagri Ulusoy from
the Karlsruhe Institute of
Techn o l o g y w a s e l e c t e d
as vice chair. In 2020, TC-14
h ad 14 m e m b e r s, o n e of
whom was a Young Profes-
sional (YPs). This member-
ship evolved in 2021 to 22
members, of whom approximately
one third (seven) are affiliate mem-
bers and YPs. New members were
added through n o m i n a t i o n a n d
vot i ng by the committee members.
T he members of TC-14 represent
a broad range of aspects of mm-
wave circuit-level and module-level
19
r e search from a set of academic and
industrial institutions from around
the globe, in particular from North
America, Europe, and East Asia. Ex-
amples of key technical areas where
our community has made impor-
tant contributions in recent years
include 1) the maturation of a wide
set of technologies for 5G includ-
ing power amplifiers, phased arrays,
i nteg rated t ra n sceivers for hand-
sets, a nd 2) t he i ncor porat ion of
t hese technologies into 5G testbeds
and products.
The members of TC-14 are expect-
ed to be active in the mm-wave IC or
MCM design fields and to participate
in MTT-S activities related to TC-14’s
areas of interest. Such activities include
proposing, leading, and participating
at workshops, short courses, and focus
sessions; nominating Distinguished
Microwave Lecturers (DMLs); and
serving in the Speaker Bureau, among
others. TC-14 members also play key
roles in several MTT-S-sponsored con-
ferences, including the IEEE Interna-
tional Microwave Symposium (IMS),
European Microwave Week (EuMC),
IEEE Radio and Wireless Week, IEEE
International Symposium on RF Inte-
gration Technology (RFIT), and IEEE
RFIC Symposium.
Activities Report (2020–2021)
Adapting to the Unexpected
Pandemic-Related Challenges
A major challenge that TC-14—and,
naturally, the entire IEEE MTT-S
and the world—had to face at the start
of 2020 w a s t h e u n e x p e c t e d set
of restrictions that arose because
of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
IMS2020 had to be restructured “on the
fly” to enable online participation.
Moreover, in-person meeting participa-
tion uncertainties remained a major
factor for the planning of conferences
in 2021. TC-14 annual meetings were
held virtually in both 2020 and 2021,
and a key agenda item during these
meetings was to gather feedback about
what our TC and the MTT-S in general
were doing right about virtual events
20
and what could be improved to drive
better learning and engagement. Such
an opportunity for dialog in the context
of TC meetings was an important fac-
tor in improving the adaptability of the
MTT-S and its key events to these un-
familiar circumstances.
IMS Workshops and Events
TC-14 members contributed to the or-
ganization of four workshops that were
accepted and planned for IMS2020:
“Fully Integrated Silicon Versus Hy-
brid Radio Frequency Front End Sys-
tems for 5G mm-Wave Highly Efficient
Power Amplifier Design Tradeoffs”;
“mm-Wave Phased-Array Transceiver
Design: From Basics to Advancements”;
“Platforms, Trials, and Applications—
The Next Step for 5G and Future Wire-
less Networks”; and “Beam Forming
in Massive Multiple Input, Multiple
Output (MIMO) for mm-Wave New
Radio.” While it was unfortunate that
these workshops had to be cancelled in
the context of IMS2020 replanning ac-
tivities, they served as a basis for sub-
sequent workshops and events in 2021.
Although IMS2020 did not feature any
workshops, it did include prerecord-
ed technical lectures for on-demand
viewing. TC-14 supported this educa-
tion initiative with the approximately
2-h lecture “Silicon-Based mm-Wave
Phased-Array Design,” given by Al-
berto Valdes-Garcia and Bodhisatwa
Sadhu of IBM Research.
For IMS2021, the workshops were,
fortunately, not cancelled. To accommo-
date the different time zones in virtual
attendance, workshops were carried
out in a hybrid format with both 1) a
video recording available on demand
and 2) a virtual live presentation at
a scheduled event time. This format
required significant extra effort from
both participants and organizers; how-
ever, the effort was required to provide
broad access to this anchor aspect of
the IMS. The IMS2021 workshops that
were either led or supported by TC-
14 members included “mm-Wave and
Terahertz Technologies for Multi-Gb/s
Wireline Interconnects”; “Platforms,
Testbeds, and Trials—The Next Step
for 5G and Future Wireless Networks”;
“Beamforming in Massive MIMO for
mm-Wave New Radio”; “mm-Wave
Phased-Array Transceiver Design:
From Basics to Advancements”; “Ma-
chine Learning and Artificial Intel-
ligence Techniques With Intelligent
Systems for Wireless Communication,
Sensing, and Computation”; and “Ad-
vanced MCMs and Packaging for 5G
and Beyond.” Right after IMS2021, TC-14
started planning activities for the 2022
workshops. Examples of workshop
proposals that were submitted and ac-
cepted in 2021 for inclusion in IMS2022
and that were either co-led or support-
ed by TC-14 members are “Front-End
Module Integration and Packaging
for 6G and Beyond 100-GHz Com-
munication and Radar Systems” and
“Large-Scale Antenna Arrays: Circuits,
Architectures, and Algorithms.”
Participation in MTT-S-
Sponsored Conferences
and Publications
Members of TC-14 held prominent
roles in leading MTT-S-sponsored
conferences and publications. Key
examples are now described. Prof.
Jim Buckwalter from the University
of California, Santa Barbara served as
TPC cochair of IMS2020, which was
a particularly challenging role due to
the unexpected need to adapt the con-
ference to a virtual format. Prof. Ahmet
Cagri Ulusoy from the Karlsruhe
Institute of Technology served as
the general chair of the 20th IEEE
Topical Meeting on Silicon Mono-
lithic ICs in RF Systems 2020. Prof.
Huei Wang f rom Nat iona l Ta i-
wa n University served as executive
committee member of the IEEE Inter-
national Symposium on RFIT and
became the chair of this conference
in 2022. He also served in the selec-
tion committee for the MTT-S DMLs
and in the Best Paper Award selec-
tion committee of IEEE Microwave
Magazine, 2021.
Dr. Alberto Valdes-Garcia from
IBM Research has been serving on
the inaugural editorial board of the
open access IEEE Journal of Microwaves,
April 2023
which launched its first issue in Janu-
ary 2021. Dr. Debabani Choudhury
from Intel had multiple notable
s er vice appointments, including
IMS2021 TPC cochair, guest co-editor
for the first IEEE Microwave and Wire-
less Components Letters special issue
on IMS2021, guest co-editor for the
Ja nuary 2022 IEEE Transactions on
Microwave Theory and Techniques (T-MTT)
special issue on IMS2021, and mem-
ber of the IEEE Antennas and Prop-
agation Society Fellows Evaluation
Committee in 2020 and 2021. Dr. Kamal
Samanta from Sony Europe also had
multiple prominent service appoint-
ments in this reporting time pe-
riod, including associate editor for
T-MTT, IEEE Microwave Magazine, and
IET Journal of Microwaves Antennas and
Propagation; topic editor for IEEE Jour-
nal of Microwaves; and awards chair for
all three conferences of the 2021 IEEE
EuMC (EuMC2021, EuMIC2021, and
EuRAD2021).
notable examples are as follows: Prof.
Jim Buckwalter from the University
of California, Santa Barbara was el-
evated to the rank of IEEE Fellow
“for extraordinary accomplishments
in mm-wave power amplifiers and op-
tical transceivers,” and Dr. Debabani
Choudhury from Intel was a corecipi-
ent of the 2019 Journal of Solid-State
Circuits Best Paper Award (awarded
in 2020 at the International Solid-State
Circuits Conference) for the paper “A
42.2-Gb/s, 4.3-pJ/b, 60-GHz Digital
Transmitter With 12-b/Symbol Polar-
ization MIMO.”
Next Steps
As 6G research and development ac-
tivities have started to gain momen-
tum, our TC members have engaged
in and will continue to drive key 6G
exploration and definition activities,
including the following:
• the design of silicon-based trans-
ceivers and phased arrays operat-
ing at the D band
• novel packaging approaches
for the cointegration of anten-
nas, silicon-based ICs, and III-V-
based ICs
• mm-wave systems for joint sens-
ing and communications.
We expect that the vibrant nature
of these activities will be reflected in
significant publications, demonstra-
tions, workshops, and special ses-
sions in 2023 and beyond. In terms
of TC vitality-related activities, the
recruitment and involvement of YPs
and affiliates will continue to be an
important focus area. Please reach
out to our TC if you have interest in
supporting the technical contribu-
tions of RFICs and MMICs in the
MTT-S community.

Keynote Presentations
In addition to participating as present-
ers in technical workshops and invited TAP.
speakers for technical conference ses-
sions, TC-14 members also delivered CONNECT.
prominent keynote presentations at NETWORK.
conferences sponsored or cosponsored
by the MTT-S. Examples of these pre-
SHARE.
sentations, which highlight the multi-
disciplinary nature of the technologies
driven by TC-14, include “Vertical Inte-
Connect to IEEE–no matter where
gration for mm-Wave Systems: Building
a Bridge Between Antennas and Artifi- you are–with the IEEE App.
cial Intelligence,” a keynote presenta- Stay up-to-date with the latest news
tion of the 2020 (postponed to 2021)
IEEE Latin America Microwave Confer- Schedule, manage, or join
ence given by Dr. Alberto Valdes-Garcia meetups virtually
from IBM Research, and “Advanced Get geo and interest-based
Multilayer Components and Front- recommendations
End Module for mm-Wave 5G Appli-
cations,” a keynote presentation of the Read and download your IEEE magazines
2020 (postponed to 2021) IEEE Euro- Create a personalized experience
pean Microwave Symposium, given by
Dr. Kamal Samanta of Sony Europe. Locate IEEE members by location,
interests, and affiliations
Notable Awards
Members of TC-14 were also recog-
nized for their outstanding techni-
cal work and notable careers. Two

April 2023 21
An Introduction to Black Holes
■ Naomi C. Robertson

James Clerk Maxwell Foundation

This article is reprinted with permission of the
James Clerk Maxwell Foundation (JCMF), which is
dedicated to the life and history of Clerk Maxwell.
A wealth of information is available at http://www.
clerkmaxwellfoundation.org/. In addition, the JCMF owns
and maintains an extensive collection of Maxwell material
at his birthplace, 14 India Street, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Visitors are most welcome once the travel situation
returns to normal. This article was arranged by David
Forfar and James Rautio, both trustees of the JCMF.

A
black hole is region of space
where the gravitational pull is
so strong that light is unable
to escape. Since no light can escape,
we are not able to observe black holes
directly. The physicist John Wheeler
(Figure 1) is often credited with being
the first to coin the term black hole in
1969; however, the concept dates back
much further to the Reverend John
Michell (Figure 2), who hypothesized
the existence of a “dark star” in 1783.
Naomi C. Robertson (ncr@ast.cam.ac.uk) is
with the Institute of Astronomy, University of
Cambridge, CB3 0HA Cambridge, U.K.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MMM.2022.3233478
Date of current version: 10 March 2023
It took until the 1960s for the idea of
black holes to gain any observational
support but they are now firmly estab-
lished in our cosmic inventory.
From Dark Star to Black Hole
In the late 1700s, natural philosophers
were debating whether the nature of
light was a particle or a wave. When
considering light as a wave. it was dif-
ficult to envisage how light could feel
the force of gravity. However, if light
was made up of particles, it was easier
to imagine how gravity might affect
particles in the same way that gravity
dictates the motion of the planets or
of a “Newtonian” apple falling from
a tree.
The discover y by Ole R ømer
(Figure 3) that light travels at a finite
speed led to the notion that gravity
could potentially slow down light. John
Michell put forward the idea of the pos-
sible existence of stars that had a gravi-
tational pull so great that light itself
would be slowed down to the extent
that it would not even be able to be
emitted. The celebrated mathematician
Pierre-Simon Laplace (Figure 4) inde-
pendently made the same prediction as
Michell around a similar time. Michell
further proposed that these dark stars
might be numerous across the night sky
but, since they emitted no light, their
positions would appear to correspond
to apparently empty regions of space.

22 April 2023
 Following this initial suggestion of
a black hole by Michell and Laplace,
the concept was not picked up by sci-
entists at the time. It seemed possible
to explain all the properties of light
using the wave description, and so
the particle theory for light fell out of
fashion and the idea of dark stars was
probably lost as a result. Although it
seemed plausible that gravity could
impact light, Newtonian physics was
not able to explain it.
This required Einstein’s (Figure 5)
theory of general relativity, put for-
ward in 1915, which described cos-
mic bodies living within the fabric
Figure 1. John Wheeler (1911–2008).
(Source: Wikipedia Commons.)
Figure 2. The Reverend John Michell
(1724–1793). (Source: courtesy
of go51johnmitchell.weebly.com/
biography.html.)
April 2023
of a curved space and time, such
that the planets, stars, and galaxies
tell space and time how to curve,
which dictates how objects then move
through space.
The astronomer Karl Schwarzschild
(Figure 6) used Einstein’s equations to
show that if matter was compressed to
a point, which is now referred to as a
singularity, nothing would be able to
escape the region of space around it.
The extent of this region is known as
the event horizon and defines the region
of space where it is no longer possible
to observe anything that is going on
inside this region.
Figure 3. Ole Rømer (1644–1710).
(Source: Wikipedia Commons.)
Figure 4. Pierre-Simon Laplace, (1749–
1827), called the French Newton. (Source:
Wikipedia Commons.)
Formation of a Black Hole
A star begins its life as a huge ball of
hydrogen gas. As the gravitational
pull squeezes the gas closer together, it
heats up until a nuclear fusion reaction
begins in the core, causing the star to
start shining. This process converts the
hydrogen into helium and continues
until the hydrogen in the core is almost
depleted. The core of the star then
begins to contract and heats up further,
causing the helium to burn to carbon.
The radiation pressure generated by
the nuclear fusion reaction inside the
star causes it to expand until it bal-
ances the gravitation pull holding the
Figure 5. Albert Einstein (1879–1955),
portrait after receiving the 1921 Nobel
Prize in Physics.
Figure 6. Karl Schwarzschild
(1873–1916). (Source: Wikipedia
Commons.)
23
star together. This process of contrac-
tion and expansion is repeated while
heavier and heavier elements are cre-
ated in the core of the star. The evolu-
tion and eventual fate of the star is
determined by how much mass the
star contains and, for the most massive
stars, this process will continue until
the element iron is formed. No heavier
elements can be produced beyond iron,
as the nuclear burning of iron does not
produce enough energy for the process
to continue.
Once a star has run out of fuel, it
begins to collapse under gravity. From
Figure 7. Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
(1910 –1995). (Source: Wikipedia
Commons.)
Figure 8. Robert Oppenheimer (1904–
1967). (Source: Wikipedia Commons.)
24
our understanding of subatomic phys-
ics, we know that particles can be
squeezed together only so much. Thus,
when a star starts to contract at the
end of its life, this contraction will, at
some point, stop as the outward pres-
sure from the particles counteracts the
inward gravitational pull. This is how a
“white dwarf star” or a “neutron star”
is formed and is the fate of stars that
have a mass of around three times that
of our Sun.
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
(Figure 7), who went on to win a Nobel
Prize for physics, questioned what
would happen if a star was more mas-
sive than this. What he found was
that the pressure from the already
compressed particles would not be
sufficient to support the star against
its own gravity. At the time, this idea
seemed completely off the wall.
The American scientist, Robert
Oppenheimer (Figure 8)—famous for
leading the Manhattan atomic bomb
project in World War II—investigated
this further and in 1939 showed that
as the gravitational pull of a star
increases, the path on which light
travels becomes so distorted that
nothing can finally escape, not even
light. This region of space from which
light cannot escape is now known as
a black hole.
Figure 9. Stephen Hawking (1942–2018).
(Source: Wikipedia Commons.)
What Happens Inside a
Black Hole?
The event horizon, which defines the
edge of this region, is the point of no
return; any object that is traveling
toward this black hole will not be able
to escape once it has crossed over into
this region. As an object approaches
the event horizon, the end of the object
that is nearer to the black hole feels a
stronger gravitational force than the
other end. As a result, the object is
pulled apart or “spaghettified.”
In the late 1960s, Stephen Hawking
(Figure 9) and Roger Penrose (Figure 10)
showed, from considerations of gen-
eral relativity, that within the black
hole there must be a singularity of
infinite density and curvature (of
space and time). At this point, the laws
of science break down. Observers out-
side the black hole would, however,
be oblivious to this as they would not
be able to see beyond the event hori-
zon. This event horizon essentially
acts as a cloak of invisibility around
the singularity.
Another prediction from general
relativity is that, as cosmic bodies move
through space and time, they send out
ripples or “gravitational waves” that
carry energy away from the object. For
example, as planets orbit around the
Sun in our solar system, they send out
gravitational waves. As a result, their
orbits are ever so slightly reduced due
to the loss of energy. This effect is so
small that fortunately we do not have
to worry! However, a gradually reduc-
ing orbit has been seen in pairs of stars
that are orbiting each other and, as a
result, spiral in toward one another.
Figure 10. Sir Roger Penrose (born
1931) holding his Nobel Prize. (Source:
Wikipedia Commons.)
April 2023
Properties of Black Holes an incredibly high density due to large an accretion disk around the black
Given that only a stellar mass of a few external pressure. Such high tempera- hole. Friction inside the disk causes it
tens of times that of the Sun is required tures and high-pressure conditions to heat up, with the inner region clos-
to form a black hole, it was not clear existed in the very early universe, and est to the black hole being heated more
whether other stellar properties made a so these black holes are referred to as than the outer parts. As the material
difference to the black hole that finally primordial black holes. Being able to find falls toward the black hole and loses
resulted. Werner Israel (Figure 11) these primordial black holes could gravitational potential energy, part of
showed that, according to general inform astronomers about conditions
relativity, for a nonrotating black just after the Big Bang.
hole, only the mass of the star that
was present beforehand mattered. All Observing the Invisible in
nonrotating black holes were shown Binary Systems
to be spherical in shape and their size By the late 1960s, the mathemati-
determined by their mass alone; all cal description and theoretical pre-
of the other characteristics of the star diction for the existence of black holes
were lost once it became a black hole. was well established; however, there
This result was the were no observational
solution to Einstein’s Being able data to support this.
equations that Karl The question was: How
Schwarzschild had to find these could this evidence
found decades earlier. primordial be collected if black
Figure 11. Werner Israel (1931–2022).
A star need not be per- black holes holes do not emit light
(Source: Courtesy of researchgate.com.)
fectly spherical to form directly? The key was
a black hole as the gravi- could inform recognized back in the
tational waves emitted astronomers 1700s, in John Michell’s
when the star collapses about conditions original work, where he
would make it spheri- noted that a black hole
cal in its final black just after the (his dark star) would
hole state. Big Bang. still exert a gravita-
For the case where tional force on nearby
the initial star is rotating, Roy Kerr objects. Pairs of stars orbiting each other,
(Figure 12) discovered solutions to referred to as binary systems, that were
Einstein’s equations which showed locked together by gravity had been
that, for rotating black holes, the final regularly observed. Single stars that
black hole rotates at a constant rate, appeared to be orbiting around some
and that their size and shape is deter- unseen object had also been observed,
Figure 12. Roy Kerr (born 1934).
mined by their mass and rate of rota- hinting at the presence of a black hole
(Source: Courtesy of ICRA.Net-
tion. Rotation means that the black (the unseen object). This was not con- ISFAHAN Astronomy Meeting.)
hole is no longer perfectly spherical crete evidence however, as the unseen
and bulges around its equator; the object might not be a black hole, just a
faster a black hole rotates, the bigger very faint star.
the bulge becomes. These two sce- In a binary system, if the two
narios define the two types of black objects are close enough to each other,
hole: a Schwarzschild black hole, which the outer atmosphere of one or both
is nonrotating, and a Kerr black hole, stars can be gravitationally distorted
which rotates. and, in some instances, material can
be exchanged from one to another
Low Mass Black Holes (Fig ure 13). Considering the case of a
Low mass black holes could intrigu- black hole (or other compact object like
ingly also exist (because they would be a neutron star or a white dwarf) in a
Figure 13. Artist’s impression of a
well below the mass limit required for binary system with a star, gas from the stellar-mass black hole (on the left)
stellar mass black holes to be formed). star can fall onto the black hole, releas- accreting material from its companion
These would have a mass of as little as ing gravitational potential energy by star as they orbit one another in a binary
that of a planet. This type of black hole emitting X-rays. As the material is system. Credit: ESO/L. Calçada/M.
could form if matter were compacted to transferred from the star, it forms into Kornmesser.

April 2023 25
this energy is released by jets of parti- servations. The mechanism is like much matter that they grow to become
cles that are directed perpendicular to the above description of X-ray emis- supermassive black holes
the accretion disk. sion from stellar black holes, with ma- A further possibility is that black
The galactic X-ray source, known terial falling in toward the black hole, holes, which are sufficiently close to
a s Cyg nus X-1, wa s d i s covere d in creating an accretion disk around the one another, merge to form a super-
1964 and was the first observation of black hole. massive black hole. These are still
a black hole–star binary system. Since As the matter spirals in, the black open questions and an active area
X-rays cannot penetrate through the hole rotates in the same direction, of research.
Earth’s atmosphere, which creates a mag-
early observations of netic field, similar in The Photographing, for the
X-rays from space were The galactic form to the magnetic First Time, of a Black Hole
made using suborbital X-ray source, field around the Earth. One of the most exciting develop-
rockets. Nowadays,
known as As this material gets ments in recent times was the first
a st ronomers h ave closer to the black hole, ever photograph of a black hole in
m a ny s p a c e - b a s e d Cygnus X-1, the energy contained 2019. The black hole was at the center
X - ray telescopes. By was discovered within the particles of a relatively nearby galaxy called
measuring the orbit of
in 1964 and increases and they are M87 (Figure 14). It was a historic first
the star, astronomers then ejected out along for astronomers that was only made
were able to conclude was the first the axis of rotation by possible due to the advanced technol-
that the object the star observation of a the magnetic field, cre- ogy used along with modern compu-
was circling must be a
black hole–star ating jets of high-ener- tational facilities. It was accomplished
black hole as nothing gy particles. These jets by using a network of telescopes
else would be massive binary system. have now been seen which together form the Event Hori-
enough. Since the dis- for many galaxies. zon Telescope (EHT) (see “The Event
covery of Cygnus X-1, there have been It is still not clear, however, how Horizon Telescope Collaboration”).
several other similar systems found supermassive black holes, which have
within our galaxies providing more a mass of millions to billions of times The Supermassive Black Hole
support that black holes do exist. that of our Sun, are formed. Some have at the Center of Our Galaxy
suggested that the collapse of massive As early as the 1930s however, a source
Supermassive Black Holes clouds of gas during the formation of a of radio emission was discovered in
Known as Quasars galaxy could produce a supermassive the constellation of Sagittarius close to
Similar observations have been made black hole or, alternatively, that stel- where the center of the Milky Way was
for the case of supermassive black lar mass black holes could accrete so believed to be; this radio source became
holes, which are known as quasars. known as Sagittarius A (Figure 15).
These are extremely luminous objects Later observations in the 1980s found
that were first detected from obser- that this was a complex radio source
vations made with radio telescopes. consisting of several components,
When they were first discovered, there including a very compact source that
was a great mystery as to what could was called Sagittarius A*.
possibly be producing this emission Stars and gas close to the center of
since they appeared so bright and galaxies have been observed to have
yet so far away. It has since been con- high orbital velocities, which can
cluded that only a supermassive black most easily be explained by a massive
hole could be the source of these ob- object at the center that is creating a
strong gravitational field close by.
Direct evidence for this being a super-
massive black hole was inferred from
looking at how material near the cen-
Figure 15. The center of the Milky Way.
ter of galaxy is orbiting.
This image is made from observations
Andrea Ghez (Figure 16) and Rein-
(in blue) of X-rays using the Chansra
Telescope and infrared data from the hard Genzel (Figure 17) were awarded
Hubble Space Telescope (shown in purple). the Nobel Prize for physics in 2020 for
Figure 14. The first image of a black hole The inset shows the X-ray emission from their work on showing that Sagittarius
using data collected by the EHT from Sagittarius A*. Credit: X-ray: NASA/ A* is the supermassive black hole at
2017 to 2019. Credit: EHT Collaboration. UMass/D.Wang et al., IR: NASA/STScI. the center of our own galaxy, the Milky

26 April 2023
 The Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration
The EHT is an international collaboration to capture images
of black holes/quasars. The Collaboration has been formed
to continue the steady long-term progress of improving the
capability of very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) at ever
shorter (submillimeter) wavelengths.
VLBI is a technique to measure the time difference
between the arrival, at two Earth-based antennas, of a
radio wavefront emitted by a distant black hole/quasar,
thereby enabling phase coherence (between the different
telescopes) to be maintained and data to be sensibly
merged. Using this technique, radio telescopes all over the
world effectively observe the same source at the same time
at the same frequency. This is achieved by linking together
radio dishes across the globe to create an Earth-sized
interferometer. Thus, many independent radio antennas,
separated by hundreds or thousands of kilometers, are
arranged to act as one array with an effective aperture
of the diameter of the entire Earth. The atomic clocks
which are used have a timing accuracy of a few billionths
of a second (light travels about 30 cms in a billionth of a
second). The frequency stability of these clocks is about
one part in a million billion.
The EHT array made observations at a wavelength of
m = 1.3 mm (230 GHz). For the EHT, the letter D (see
below) is broadly the diameter of the Earth (about 13,000
km), giving an effective angular resolution of about 25
microarc-seconds and with a much higher bandwidth than
a single telescope (the angular resolution of a telescope is
the angle between close objects that can be seen clearly
to be separate and is measured as m/D radians). For better
resolution, m/D is required to be as small as possible, so
future developments require submillimeter wavelengths.
The required surface of each telescope’s parabolic
dish is required to be almost perfectly parabolic, with a
tolerance of within m/10 (where m = 1.3 mm is the current
wavelength of the EHT observations).
Future EHT effort includes deployment of submillimeter
dual polarization receivers at a wavelength shorter than 1 mm
(230–450 GHz) and highly stable frequency standards.
In April of 2019, the EHT enabled the first supermassive
black hole to be photographed. This was M87* in the
center of the Messier 87 galaxy (Figure 14). In May of 2022,
the EHT photographed Sagittarius A* (Figure 18) as being
the black hole at the center of our own galaxy, the Milky
Way. M87* is some 55 million light-years from Earth. M87*
is considerably more massive than Sagittarius A*, which is
only 27 thousand light-years away from Earth.
In both cases, the size of the emission regions matched
that of the predicted silhouettes caused by the black
hole after allowing for the gravitational lensing of the
light that reaches us. The addition of key millimeter and
submillimeter wavelength facilities (at high altitude sites)
has now opened the possibility of sensing the dynamic
evolution of the accretion of incoming matter caused by the
immense gravitational pull of the black hole.
By linking together telescopes in widely distant places
of the Earth using novel systems, the EHT creates a
fundamentally new instrument with angular resolving
power that is the highest possible when observing from the
surface of the Earth.

Way. It is about four million times the
mass of the Sun. This black hole has
been recently photographed for the first
time (Figure 18). It is believed that most
galaxies have a supermassive black behind Hawking radiation is that
hole at their center. empty space is not empty of energy
after all but contains what is called the
Can Black Holes vacuum energy. Although, in a vacuum,
Radiate Energy?
In the 1970s Stephen Hawking con-
jectured that black holes can radiate
energy. This concept is now known
as Hawking radiation. The concept

Figure 18. Sagittarius A*, the black hole

Figure 16. Andrea Ghez (born 1965), at the center of our galaxy. It is the second
with her Nobel Prize. (Source: Wikipedia Figure 17. Reindard Genzel (born 1952). image ever to be taken of a black hole.
Commons.) (Source: Wikipedia Commons.) Credit: EHT Collaboration.

April 2023 27
there may be no particles present, there
may still be gravitational and electro-
magnetic fields with their own energy.
From Heisenberg’s uncertainty prin-
ciple, there are quantum fluctuations
in these fields. These fields can generate
pairs of virtual particles, which appear
together before annihilating each other,
effectively zipping in and out of exis-
tence. These virtual particles cannot be
detected with a particle detector in the
same way as real particles; however,
their existence can only be inferred
from indirect effects, such as changes in
the energy of electron orbits in atoms.
Virtual particles are created in par-
ticle/antiparticle pairs, such that one
particle has positive energy and the other
has negative energy (in relation to the
vacuum energy) since energy cannot be
created out of nothing. Normally, these
pairs of particles would rapidly anni-
hilate each other. Close to a black hole
though, it becomes possible that one of
the negative energy particles crosses the
event horizon (thus reducing the energy
and mass of the black hole), while the
remaining positive energy particle might
travel away from the black hole and thus
be emitted from the black hole. This emis-
sion is the Hawking radiation. However,
the timescale for a stellar mass black hole
to evaporate completely is expected to be
much longer than the age of the universe.
Distance Between Black Holes
12
Inspiral
2
1
Strain (10–21)
Primordial black holes, on the other
hand, have a lot less mass than stellar
black holes. As such, they have much
smaller evaporation timescales and
therefore it is possible that the smallest
black holes could have already radiated
themselves away through Hawking
radiation. The primordial black holes
with a slightly larger mass will not have
had enough time to evaporate com-
pletely and could still be emitting radi-
ation through X-rays and gamma rays.
It is possible then to find these black
holes from flashes of gamma rays dur-
ing the final stages of their existence.
The astonishing concept by Hawking is
that black holes do not live forever and,
while a black hole may have appeared
to be the full stop at the end of a star’s
life, it may continue its own slow evo-
lution and eventual demise.
When Black Holes Collide
Pairs of black holes, which orbit in a
binary system, have been shown to
occur, with the Laser Interferometer
Gravitational-Wave Observatory being
the first to measure the case of two
black holes merging. These black holes
were estimated to have masses around
36 and 29 times the mass of the sun.
The merging event begins with the
two black holes spiraling in toward
each other. This initial phase takes a
11 10 9 8 7 6 40
Merger Ringdown
long time and during the process very
weak gravitational waves are emit-
ted. As the distance between the
black holes becomes ever smaller, the
speed at which they orbit increases,
which, in its turn, increases gravi-
tational wave emission. Eventually,
they get close enough that they can
merge; this is when the emission of
gravitational waves is at its high-
est. Once the merger has occurred, a
single black hole is left that will then
“ringdown,” by emitting further grav-
itational waves (Figure 19).
In the case of the first merger de-
tected, a black hole that was around 62
times the mass of the Sun was created
by the merging event. The sum of the
two masses of the original black holes
was 65 times the mass of the Sun so
that three solar masses were lost imme-
diately as gravitational radiation. This
measurement was the first-time gravi-
tational waves were detected, provid-
ing further support for Einstein’s the-
ory of general relativity.
Conclusion
Current questions include, for exam-
ple: How do black holes impact the
evolution of the galaxy they inhabit
(this is important for understand-
ing galaxy formation)? We still need
to understand the implications of
Hawking’s conception of black hole
evaporation. Measuring the gamma-
ray background in order to study pri-
mordial black holes is also an active
field of research.
From its beginnings as being only
a mathematical concept to black holes

becoming powerhouses at the cen-

ter of galaxies, much has been learned
0 about black holes over the last century.
It is now undeniable that they play an
–1 important role in our wider understand-
Theoretical Model of GW150914 ing of the cosmos.
–2
–0.2 –0.15 –0.1 –0.05 0 0.05 Reference
Time (s) [1] N. C. Robertson, “An introduction to black
holes,” Newsletter of the James Clerk Maxwell
Figure 19. Diagram showing how the emission of gravitational waves correlates with Foundation, Edinburgh, Scotland, Summer
the merging process. The purple line shows the strength of the gravitational waves as 2022. [Online]. Available: https://clerkmax
time goes by and the black holes get closer together. This peaks when they merge and wellfoundation.org/Newsletter_2022_Summer
_V18.pdf
then is rapidly damped down. Credit: https://astrobites.org/2018/03/08/recoil-detectives
-searching-for-black-hole-kicks-using-gravitational-waves/.

28 April 2023
Celebrating Forty Years of high-quality publications in
all aspects of optical guided-wave science, technology, and engineering.

Celebrate by accessing all JLT Best Paper Award

winning papers, available Open Access.
ieee-jlt.org

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MMM.2022.3232880

 ©SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/DIZAIN
Robustly
Operating
Jasmin Grosinger

T
he Internet of Things (IoT) refers to a struc-
ture that links everyday objects and the
Internet. To enable the IoT, a massive de-
ployment of wireless IoT nodes is required;
predictions indicate that trillions of these
nodes will be needed. This trend raises sustainability
issues on environmental, economic, and societal levels.
Concerning environmental and economic problems,
a significant design challenge is to create wireless IoT
nodes that operate at ultralow power to avoid the eco-
toxicity of batteries and the prohibitive maintenance
costs of battery replacement [1]. Another design chal-
lenge is to reach high levels of integration based on
low-cost CMOS technologies [2] to limit the carbon
footprint and costs associated with the nodes’ produc-
tion and end of life. Concerning societal issues, a sig-
nificant design challenge is to guarantee the security
and privacy of data in IoT nodes.
The microwave community’s work aims to solve, at
least to some extent, these sustainability issues by pre-
senting design solutions for the IoT. Researchers have
shown RF design solutions for ultralow-power wireless
communication systems, focusing on specific needs
and challenges in IoT applications. For example, RF
design solutions have been presented, focusing on how
novel IoT system designs can be rapidly tested in their
respective application environments [3]. Other solu-
tions show how batteryless or passive IoT nodes can
be created that provide security and privacy of data [4]
and passive sensing capabilities [5]. In addition, solu-
tions demonstrate how to create passive miniaturized
IoT nodes [6] and passive IoT nodes based on new sus-
tainable materials [7].
Thus far, specific ultralow-power wireless com-
munication systems have been investigated and
classified for the particular wireless communication

Jasmin Grosinger (jasmin.grosinger@tugraz.at) is with Graz University of Technology, Graz 8010, Austria.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MMM.2022.3233508
Date of current version: 10 March 2023

30 1527-3342/23©2023IEEE April 2023

technology used. The examples are passive far-field
[3], [5], [6], [7], [8], passive near-field [6], [8], and
active far-field communication technologies [9], [10],
which vary in terms of the communication distance,
data range, and type of devices used. One specific
ultralow-power wireless communication system of
significant interest for IoT systems is high-frequency
(HF) RFID systems based on passive near-field com-
munication (NFC) technology [11].
Passive NFC Systems
HF RFID systems are grouped according to their
communication standards, operating at a frequency
of 13.56 MHz. These standards differ, for example,
in terms of their modulation schemes and bit rates
and are specifically tailored to achieve specific com-
munication ranges. The systems are designed to
meet vicinity standards ISO/IEC 15693 and ISO/IEC
18000-3, which cover communication ranges of up to
1 m, and proximity standard ISO/IEC 14443, which
covers the communication of up to 10 cm. Further-
more, NFC systems are closely related to HF RFID
proximity systems, which were released to meet
ISO/IEC 18092.
Although various HF RFID systems comply with
different standards, the operating principle governing
all HF RFID systems is the same. The systems rely on
the magnetic resonant coupling between a reader and
a passive, batteryless, transponder (tag), often called
a smartcard or label [12]. Figure 1 shows a photo of an
example HF RFID system.
The reader transfers RF power and data toward the
tag, providing all the energy needed to operate the
passive tag. Following Maxwell’s equations [13], [14],
the reader generates an alternating magnetic field,
penetrating the cross section of the reader coil area
and the area around the coil [12]. If a resonant tag is
placed within the field of the reader coil, the tag draws
energy from the magnetic field following the law of
induction [14]. The voltage induced in the tag coil
generates the voltage supply for the tag chip and data
transfer from the reader to the tag. The tag communi-
cates its data to the reader using load modulation [12];
the tag chip modulates the tag coil current by varying
its input impedance according to the tag data stream
(e.g., the tag ID). The change in tag coil current can be
sensed at the reader coil as an impedance variation,
allowing the remote tag to modulate the voltage at the
reader coil.
Conventional-sized HF RFID tags based on the
proximity standard must be classified as low-power
devices. The tag chip experiences an input power
of several 100 µW, allowing the implementation of
sophisticated security mechanisms to ensure data
security and privacy [4]. In contrast, HF RFID tags
April 2023
Although various HF RFID systems
comply with different standards, the
operating principle governing all HF
RFID systems is the same.
based on the vicinity standards experience a chip
input power of approximately 10 µW or less. We thus
classify them as ultralow-power wireless communica-
tion devices.
HF RFID System
An equivalent circuit generally models an HF RFID
system to facilitate system design. Figure 2 shows
an example equivalent circuit model [6], [11]. The
HF RFID reader consists of a reader chip, match-
ing network, and reader coil modeled by the induc-
tance L R, resistance R R, and capacitance CR. The tag
is composed of a tag coil modeled by LT, RT, and CT,
and the tag chip is modeled by the equivalent paral-
lel circuit of RChip and CChip. As mentioned previously,
the tag coil is penetrated by the alternating magnetic
field generated by the reader coil. The fraction of the
magnetic field aligned perpendicular to the tag coil
induces the voltage in the coil, resulting in the chip
input voltage VChip.
The coil models in Figure 2 use the simplest form
of equivalent circuits to model the reader and tag coils
[15]. The equivalent circuit consists of an inductance
LR|T that models the coil inductance, a resistance R R|T
that models conductive and dielectric losses in the coil
metal and tag substrate, and a capacitance CR|T that
HF RFID Tag Coil
Tag
Tag Chip
HF RFID
Reader
With an
Integrated
Coil
Figure 1. A photo of an example HF RFID system.
The system relies on a communication link between an
ACR122U RFID reader and an HF RFID tag, which
consists of a coil and a chip, i.e., a Mifare Desfire EV1 chip.
31
The main criterion applied while
designing HF RFID tag coils is to
optimize the delivery of a sufficient
chip input voltage.
models parasitic capacitive coupling between the coil
windings. Based on this circuit model, the respective
resonance frequencies of the reader and tag coils can
be determined by [16]
2
R R|T
fR|T = 1 1 - 2 .
2r L R|T C R|T L R|T
Additional components in the coil equivalent cir-
cuits must be considered in the case of more sophis-
ticated coil designs. These can include RFID tags
exploiting system-on-chip and system-in-package con-
cepts [6] or broadband coil models investigating the
coexistence and interoperability of HF RFID systems
with wireless power transfer systems [17].
The power transfer efficiency h generally character-
izes the wireless power transfer in HF RFID systems.
The efficiency depends mainly on the coil’s charac-
teristics, positions, and orientations in space. In free
space, the power transfer efficiency between two circu-
lar coils aligned coaxially is [13], [18], [19]
1 ^ n 0 2r 2 fR N R N T r R2 r T2 h2
^r 2R + z 2 h3
h=
16R R R Chip
where RChip is the chip resistance, and µ 0 = 4πE-7 H/m is
free-space permeability. NR|T is the respective number
of coil windings. R R|T is the respective coil radius. z is
the distance of the tag along the reader coil center axis
(i.e., z = 0 corresponds to the center of the reader coil).
HF RFID Reader
CR
Reader Matching
Chip Network
Reader Coil
Figure 2. An example equivalent circuit of an HF RFID system [6], [11]. The equivalent circuit consists of a reader and a
tag. The reader is composed of a reader chip, matching network, and reader coil modeled by the inductance LR, resistance R R,
and capacitance CR . In contrast, the tag is composed of a tag coil modeled by LT, RT, and CT, and the tag chip is modeled by the
equivalent parallel circuit of RChip and CChip with the chip input voltage VChip. Inductive coupling between the reader and tag
coils is characterized by the coupling coefficient k [12].
32
The efficiency will decrease with lateral and angular
coil misalignments [19]. It is also associated with the
read range of the RFID system. The read range of an
RFID system is defined as the maximum communication
range between the reader and the tag.
HF RFID Reader
The reader’s matching network typically consists
of three parts [20]. Starting from the reader coil, the
matching network consists of damping resistances
applied to reduce the quality (Q) factor of the reader
coil and broaden the reader’s bandwidth. The Q factor
is optimized to maximize the magnetic field strength
(1)
while maintaining an acceptable bandwidth for the
tag data transfer. Typically, a Q factor of 10–30 is
chosen for reader coils, which offers a good tradeoff
[12]. In addition, the matching network consists of a
matching network that allows the impedance of the
reader coil to be matched to the 50 Ω input impedance
of the reader chip. Furthermore, the matching net-
work includes an electromagnetic compatibility filter
to reduce harmonics.
HF RFID Tag
The tag has to be resonant to draw energy from the
reader’s magnetic field efficiently, i.e., with a tag reso-
nance frequency of f Tag = 13.56 MHz (in contrast to f T,
which is the tag coil resonance in (1). The tag resonance
frequency f Tag can be calculated using the equivalent
circuit shown in Figure 2 [11]:
(2)
1 - ^C Chip + C Th R 2T
fTag = 1
L T ^C Chip + C Th
. (3)
2r
The tag chip is modeled by an equivalent parallel
circuit of RChip and CChip. The tag coil inductance LT and
tag capacitances CChip and CT are adjusted to create a
HF RFID Tag
RR RT
RChip CChip
CT
LR LT
VChip
Tag Coil
April 2023
tag resonance at 13.56 MHz. This adjustment is made chips generally offer multiple input capacitance values
by building a dedicated resonance capacitance into the to support different coil sizes according to the ISO/IEC
chip in state-of-the-art tags, attaining the desired tag 7810 standard. The typical values of tag capacitances
resonance, as presented in Figure 3 [11]. HF RFID tag CChip and CT are, for example, 20 pF for standard ID-1

23
17 DESFire
22 16.5 Ultralight
Classic
16
Tag-it
21
15.5 K50
FM248
20 15
2 2.5 3
fTag (MHz)

19

18

17

16

15
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
VChip (VRMS)
(a)

104 104

102 102
RChip (kΩ)

RChip (kΩ)

100 100

10–2 10–2
0 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
VChip (VRMS) VChip (VRMS)
20 20

15 15
CChip (pF)

CChip (pF)

10 10
DESFire Tag-it
5 Ultralight 5 K50
Classic FM248
0 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5
VChip (VRMS) VChip (VRMS)
(b) (c)

Figure 3. The tag characteristics for six different chip examples from various vendors and an ID-1 tag coil [11]. (a) The
calculated chips’ tag resonance frequencies f Tag versus input voltage VChip. (b) The chip resistances RChip and capacitances
CChip of the three proximity tag chip products (DESFire, Ultralight, Classic) at 13.56 MHz. In contrast, (c) shows the
resistance and capacitance of the three vicinity tag chip products (Tag-it, K50, FM248). The chip resistances and capacitances
were measured with an RF current–voltage impedance measurement method and achieved, compared to previous work,
higher measurement accuracy of better than 1.5%. The measurement data are available online at IEEE DataPort doi:
10.21227/4yvmc819.

April 2023 33
 coils, as shown in Figure 1, with a credit card size of
85.60 mm × 53.98 mm.
The recommended tag resonance frequency range
for standard ID-1 coils of proximity tags is 13.56 MHz
<f Tag <16 MHz [21]. The recommended resonance fre-
quency is higher than the reader operating frequency,
i.e., 13.56 MHz, to counteract card-loading effects,
keeping the interaction of nearby tags low [12]. These
resonance frequency values can also be seen in Fig-
ure 3, showing tag resonance frequencies between 15
and 16 MHz for small chip input voltages. Figure 3
depicts the characterization of different chip examples
from various vendors [11], showing the measurements
results of six chip examples, three proximity standard-
based chips (DESFire, Ultralight, Classic), and three
vicinity standard based (Tag-it, K50, FM248). The tag
resonance frequency is shown versus the chip input
voltage VChip for the different chips in combination
with an ID-1 coil, following (1). Figure 3 also shows
the measured parallel resistance RChip and capacitance
CChip of the proximity and vicinity standard-based
chips versus input voltage. Resistance and capacitance
show a strongly nonlinear behavior versus voltage
VChip. When approaching the maximum operating
voltage of the chip, the influence of an internal volt-
age limiter becomes dominant to protect the chip inte-
grated circuit from overvoltage [4]. The limiter effect is
Metal
Obs
Obstacle
Power Transfer Efficiency ( η)
∆
Tag Coil
z
y
Reader Coil
x
(a)
Figure 4. An example of the impact of a metal environment on the wireless power transfer efficiency of a vicinity-standard-
based HF RFID system [25]. (a) Arrangement of the reader and tag coils distanced at 50 cm. The distance ∆ of the tag coil
and the metal obstacle is 10 mm. (a) Power transfer efficiency at 13.56 MHz versus lateral misalignment ∆y and angular tag
misalignment j to the reader, i.e., compare numerical calculation with and without the metal obstacle. Next to the numerically
calculated results, the simulation results from CST are presented, aligning well with the analytical model shown in [25]. sim.:
simulation; num.: numerical; calc.: calculation.
34
visible for the proximity chips for the measured input
voltage range. As a side effect, the limiter detunes the
tag resonance frequency at the respective clamping
voltage to avoid overvoltage [11]. The three proxim-
ity chip examples show a maximum limiter clamp-
ing voltage of roughly 3 V, while vicinity chips have a
clamping voltage of approximately 10 V.
The main criterion applied while designing HF
RFID tag coils is to optimize the delivery of a suf-
ficient chip input voltage. The power transfer effi-
ciency h can usually be increased by increasing the
magnetic field provided by the reader (i.e., increas-
ing the reader output power), decreasing the dis-
tance between the reader and tag coils, expanding
the radius of the tag coil, or increasing the number of
windings [18]. Increasing the number of coil wind-
ings is often the most effective way to increase h as
local authorities limit the maximum magnetic field
emission, and specific applications often limit com-
munication distances and tag sizes. The most effi-
cient planar coil design can be created by optimizing
the number of windings and the width of the con-
ductor if fixed dimensions are provided [18]. A high
Q factor of the tag is not favorable as a narrow-band
HF RFID tag is highly prone to detuning effects
when placed close to the dielectric, conducting, or
ferromagnetic materials. More robust tags can be
10–7
CST Sim. With Obstacle
ϑ = 0°
Num. Calc. With Obstacle
ϑ = 30° Num. Calc. Without Obstacle
10–8
ϑ = 60°
10–9 ϑ = 0°
ϑ = 30°
10–10 ϑ = 60°
10–11
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4
Distance of the Tag Coil Along the y-Axis (∆y) in m
(b)
April 2023
achieved by optimizing the inductance and resis-
tance of the coil to achieve a typical Q Tag of roughly
20 or less [18], [22].
Metal Environments
In general, metal environments severely impair the per-
formance of HF RFID systems [23]. Eddy currents are
induced on the metal surface in contact with or close to
a coil to satisfy the boundary condition, which states that
the magnetic field normal to the metal surface must be
zero [14]. The induced eddy current opposes the magnetic
field generated by the coil, which significantly damps the
magnetic field in the vicinity of the metal surface, leading
to a reduction in the coil inductance, which is a function
of coil geometry and the number of windings. Accord-
ing to (1) and (3), this reduction in inductance leads to
an increase in the coil resonant frequency [24] and, sub-
sequently, to a decrease in power transfer efficiency [25],
shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4 shows an example of the impact of a metal
environment on the wireless power transfer effi-
ciency of a vicinity-standard-based HF RFID system
In general, metal environments
severely impair the performance
of HF RFID systems.
[25]. The rectangular single-turn reader and tag coils
have a distance of 50 cm. Their wireless power trans-
fer efficiency is investigated at 13.56 MHz for a lat-
eral misalignment of the tag coil to the reader coil
in the y-direction characterized by the distance ∆y
and an angular misalignment of tag and reader coils
characterized by the angle j of the tag coil plane and
the z-direction [19]. In addition, a metal obstacle is
located behind the tag; the metal obstacle’s position
is always constant to the tag coil. There is a consider-
able decrease in power transfer efficiency of 50 × 10−3
in the case of the metal next to the tag compared to
no metal [25].
Different design strategies have been presented
to realize HF RFID systems that operate robustly
in metal environments. Table 1 shows these design

TABLE 1. A summary of HF RFID systems that operate robustly in metal environments (listed chronologically by
publication date). The read range of the custom-built designs is compared to the read range in free space
(metal environment/free space*) or with an off-the-shelf design in the specific metal environment
(custom-built/off-the-shelf design).

Metal Use of Ferrite Read

Year References Location Reader Coil (cm) Tag Coil (cm) Design Strategy Material Range (cm)
2006 [26], [27] Tag 80 × 60 (4 W) 5 × 10 (three Metal-backed tag coil Ferrite core 105/105*
windings) oriented to couple
magnetic field parallel
to a metal surface
2007 [22], [23] Reader 25 × 25 Phillips I-CODE Metal-backed reader No 25/50
(4 W, Omron reader, SLI tag coil
one winding)
2009 [28], [29] Reader 36 × 36 Commercial tag Metal-backed reader No 26/39*
(1 W, one winding) coil
2011 [30] Tag EMVCo 2.0 4 × 2 (five Smartcard sticker Flexible ferrite 3/0
Testbench windings) with permanent sheet
metal foil layer below
ferrite layer
2012 [31], [32] Reader 32 × 22 Texas Multiturn reader No 33/13
(1 W FEIG reader, Instruments HF-I coil with adaptive
two windings) Plus tag matching circuit
(4.5 × 7.6)
2014 [33] Tag Mobile phone 7.5 × 4.5 (three Silver inkjet-printed Flexible ferrite 10/0
windings) tag coil on a ferrite sheet
sheet
2017 [34], [35], Tag Samsung Galaxy S5 DuraPlug 6 RFID Passive tag booster No 0.7/0
[36] metal tag antenna
2020 [37] Between NFC reader Circus tamper HF repeater (two Flexible ferrite 5/4.2*
reader ACR122U loop with NXP booster antennas sheet, ferrite
and tag NTAG213 TT and ferrite material) core

April 2023 35
 strategies listed according to the years when the pro-
totypes were first published. The table gives the metal
location at the reader, tag, or between the reader and
the tag. It also includes information on the reader and
tag coils, their sizes, the number of coil windings, and
reader’s transmit power. In addition, the list presents
the exploited design strategy to realize a robust opera-
tion in the specific metal environment, detailing the
use of ferrite material. Finally, the presented custom-
built designs are compared in their read range with
off-the-shelf devices in the metal environment, or the
prototypes are compared in their read ranges in the
metal environment versus free space. A read range
analysis of Table 1 shows that a considerable read range
improvement was achieved from 2011 onward using
ferrite material, adaptive matching networks, and
booster antenna designs.
Gap: 1.4 cm
Paper-
Based Tag
(a)
NFC Reader
Ferrite-
Based Tag
NFC Chip With
Temperature Sensor
(b)
Figure 5. (b) A silver inkjet-printed NFC tag prototype
[33]. The figure shows a performance comparison with
(a) a silver inkjet-printed photo paper-based tag in a metal
environment. The sizes of the four winding coils were
45 mm × 75 mm connected to NFC Infineon chips equipped
with temperature sensors. A mobile phone acted as an NFC
reader, reading the temperature values of both tags.
36
Ferrite Material
The use of ferrite material leads to considerable read
range improvement. The ferrite material provides
magnetic isolation of the coil from the metal, prevent-
ing eddy currents from originating. This improve-
ment was shown for HF RFID systems for the first
time by NXP Semiconductors researchers in 2011
[30]. They proposed inserting a flexible ferrite sheet
between the printed NFC coil and the metallic battery
pack of a mobile phone, showing an improved read
range of 3 cm, in contrast to no established commu-
nication in the case of a conventional printed coil in
the mobile phone. Compared to using an additional
ferrite sheet, in 2014, researchers from the Graz
University of Technology and Infineon Technolo-
gies presented an NFC tag coil directly silver-inkjet
printed on a ferrite substrate [33]. This approach
improved the NFC tag’s mechanical and economic
properties, leading to a minimum tag thickness and
lower assembly effort. Also, the silver-inkjet printing
process is cheaper than other fabrication processes,
such as etching [38].
Figure 5 depicts the presented silver inkjet-printed
NFC tag prototype in [33] and its performance com-
parison with a silver inkjet-printed photo paper-
based tag in a metal environment. Both tags contain
printed coils connected to Infineon NFC chips with
temperature sensors. A mobile phone was used as
the NFC reader to read the chip’s temperature val-
ues. A 100-µm-thick copper sheet is arranged below
the tag coils. Figure 5 shows the temperature readout
with both NFC tags. The researchers could read out
the NFC tag with the ferrite coil in case the copper
sheet was directly attached to the back of the coil. In
contrast, they could only read out the NFC tag with
the photo paper coil for a spacing of 1.4 cm between
the coil and the copper sheet. The figure also shows
that the reading distance of the ferrite coil in a metal
environment is more significant than that of the photo
paper coil. The copper sheet at the back of the photo
paper tag antenna deteriorates the photo paper tag’s
performance. Additional simulations and measure-
ments in a nonmetal environment showed that the
ferrite coil performed equally well as a custom-built
NFC coil printed on a photo paper substrate, despite
further losses in the ferrite substrate. The ferrite coil
outperformed the photo paper coil in a metal envi-
ronment, showing a read range of 10 cm in contrast to
0 cm in the case of the copper directly attached to the
tags (see Table 1).
Booster Antennas
Using ferrite material in combination with booster
antenna technology further improves HF RFID sys-
tems in metal environments. Typically, we use booster
April 2023

Coupling Coil
Booster Antenna 1
Tuning
Capacitances
and Damping
Resistor
Pickup Coil
NFC Reader
Ferrite Sheet
(a)
Figure 6. (a) An HF RFID repeater prototype and (b) a read range measurement setup [37]. The repeater consists of
two booster antennas, ferrite material, tuning capacitances, and a damping resistor. The capacitances tuned the resonant
system to 13.56 MHz, while the damping resistor decreased the quality factor of the coupling coils. The measurement setup
consisted of an NFC reader and an NFC tag. The repeater was mounted on two 1-mm-thick aluminum plates with a
4.5-mm opening.
antennas to extend the read range of miniaturized
RFID tags by increasing the effective tag antenna area
[6]. A booster antenna consists of two parts, i.e., a large
pickup antenna and small coupling structure [39]. The
pickup antenna focuses the available energy by the
reader, while the coupling structure acts as an alter-
native transmit-receive part of the particular miniatur-
ized tag.
Researchers from the Graz University of Technol-
ogy and NXP Semiconductors first exploited this
favorable combination of ferrite material and booster
antenna technology [37]. In 2020, they presented a
stack of two booster antennas and ferrite material, a
so-called HF RFID repeater, to enable communication
of an HF RFID reader with a tag enclosed in a metal
housing (i.e., the metal between the reader and the
label). The HF RFID repeater consists of two booster
antennas, as shown in Figure 6. One booster antenna
is located inside the metal housing with a small open-
ing. In contrast, the other booster antenna is located
outside the metal housing. Their coupling coils are
centrally aligned to the opening, while their pickup
coils are aligned with the reader and tag coils. In addi-
tion to the booster antennas, a ferrite core and ferrite
sheets make up integral parts of the repeater. The ferrite
sheets isolate the various coils from the metal environ-
ment, while the ferrite core guides the magnetic field
through the small opening in the metal housing. This
combination enabled the repeater to provide a reader-
repeater-tag system with an extended read range of
5 cm compared to the read range of 4.2 cm of the same
reader-tag system in free space (i.e., without a repeater
and metal).
Adaptive Matching
Next to using ferrite material and booster antenna
technology, adaptive matching networks show con-
April 2023
NFC Tag
Metal Plates
Booster Antenna 2
(b)
siderable improvement in HF RFID systems in met-
al environments. The coil inductance change due to
the metal environment can be readjusted by adapt-
ing the matching network in the specific HF RFID
device. Researchers from the Ştefan cel Mare Uni-
versity of Suceava presented this method in 2012
[31], [32]. They showed a considerable increase in
the read range of an HF RFID system by exploit-
ing an adaptive matching network at the reader in a
metal environment.
Currently, researchers are working on wireless power
transfer systems in general, and HF RFID systems
in particular, using real-time adaptive matching
networks controlled by deep neural networks [40],
[41], [42]. Their focus is on combating the reader
and tag coils misalignment in real time and the
resulting decrease in power transfer efficiency.
Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technol-
ogy presented a system for wireless power transfer
operating at 13.56 MHz using helical wire coils [42].
Eventually, these real-time adaptive matching sys-
tems will help operate HF RFID systems reliably in
metal environments.
Figure 7 shows an example real-time adaptive HF
RFID system using an adaptive matching network at
the reader that consists of shunt-variable capacitors
and series inductors [40], [41]. A bidirectional coupler
tracks the reflection coefficient at the matching net-
work input. At the same time, an RF phase and gain
detector receives the reflected power from the coupler
and outputs a voltage signal to a microcontroller. The
microcontroller acts on the adaptive matching net-
work based on a trained deep neural network, using
measurement data for testing. The measurement setup
is shown in Figure 7. A semiautomated test setup mea-
sures the coil-to-coil transmission coefficient with a
vector network analyzer for different combinations of
37
Using ferrite material in combination
with booster antenna technology
further improves HF RFID systems in
metal environments.
intercoil distance d, azimuthal tilt angle i, and x-y axis
misalignment ∆x and ∆y.
Concluding Discussion
A reliable and robust operation of HF RFID systems
is mandatory to use these systems’ benefits for solv-
ing IoT sustainability issues that come along with the
massive deployment of IoT nodes. In particular, the
recent development of HF RFID sensor tags [5], [43]
in combination with booster antennas [6], [37] makes
the technologies very interesting for IoT applications,
Matching System Reader and Tag Coils
Signal
Generator
Matching
Coupler
Network Tag Chip
RF
Microcontroller
Detector
(a)
θ MM.2017.4241347.
∆x
∆y
d Informationstechnik, vol. 133, no. 3, pp. 163–175, 2016, doi: 10.1007/
(b)
Figure 7. (a) A real-time adaptive matching system and
(b) a semiautomated measurement-driven setup for
testing the deep neural network [40], [41]. The matching
system is part of the HF RFID reader. Reader and tag
coil transmission coefficient were investigated versus
coil distance d, azimuthal tilt angle i, and x-y axis
misalignment ∆x and ∆y. The microcontroller acts on the
adaptive matching network based on a trained deep neural
network and improves the wireless power transfer of the
system for different coil positions.
38
allowing for a batteryless operation, high integration,
and security and privacy of data. Thus, these systems
must operate robustly in harsh applications such as
metal environments. The successful design strategies
for a robust operation use ferrite materials, booster
antennas, and adaptive matching networks, consider-
ably improving the HF RFID systems’ performance in
metal environments.
Future work must focus on making HF RFID
systems more sustainable. Using biodegradable tag
materials would help reduce the tags’ and booster
antennas’ carbon footprint. Although there have been
presentations of biodegradable substrates, the realiza-
tion of highly conductive, biodegradable substrates
is still at the beginning. In particular, for passive,
batteryless, devices, highly conductive materials are
a must to realize operation. Other trends to increase
the sustainability of HF RFID devices cover technolo-
gies like plastic electronics complementing semicon-
ductors [44]. Also, the reader and tag would benefit
from fully integrated real-time adaptive matching
systems, leveraging robust system performance in
harsh environments. In particular, tiny artificial
intelligence algorithms consuming microwatts of
power would be needed at the tag side. Ultimately,
future work needs an interdisciplinary collaboration
between RF, computers, and material scientists to
realize a sustainable IoT.
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39
 Qiaowei Yuan

S-Parameters
for Calculating
the Maximum
Efficiency of a
MIMO-WPT
System
S
-parameters are members of a family of circuit network parameters. Other
members are Z-parameters, Y-parameters, T-parameters, and ABCD-pa-
rameters [1]. The first published description of S-parameters was in the
thesis of Vitold Belevitch, in 1945 [2]. Kaneyuki Kurokawa popularized
the S-parameters referred to as power waves [3], making S-parameters
much easier to apply to microwave engineering when port voltages and cur-
rents are difficult to define and measure.
Scattering parameters, or S-parameters (the elements of a scattering matrix, or
S-matrix), describe the relationships between the ports’ incident power waves and
reflected power waves; thus, S-parameters are very useful in describing the electrical
behavior of linear electrical networks and can be applied to electronics, communication
systems design, and, especially, microwave engineering, including the design of ampli-
fiers, filters, couplers, and so on.
The S-matrix is a mathematical construct that quantifies how RF energy propagates through
a multiport network. The S-matrix can accurately represent and describe the properties of incredibly
complicated networks as simple “black boxes.” Therefore, the S-matrix has also been successfully used to
analyze the power transfer efficiency (PTE) and maximum PTE (MPTE) of various wireless power transfer
(WPT) systems [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14], [15]. In 2009, Yuan et al [4], [5], [6], [7], [8] for-
mulated the PTE and MPTE for one transmitter and one receiver, the most popular WPT system, which is

Qiaowei Yuan (qwyuan@ieee.org) is with the Tohoku Institute of Technology, Sendai 982-8577, Japan.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MMM.2022.3233509
Date of current version: 10 March 2023

40 1527-3342/23©2023IEEE April 2023

 also called a single-input, single-output
(SISO) WPT system. The proposed
approach for calculating the PTE and
MPTE can be applied not only to coil
transmitters and receivers but also to
any type of transmitter and receiver for
SISO-WPT systems; moreover, the effect
from surrounding objects, such as human
bodies, can also be easily taken into account.
With the spread of WPT applications and resur-
gence of research due to Kurs’ publication in 2007
[16], multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO)-WPT
technology has attracted a great deal of attention. In
2017, Wiedmann and Weber discussed the MPTE of
MIMO-WPT systems by using the Rayleigh quotient
[9]. Yuan et al. [10], [11] formulated the generalized
Rayleigh quotient problem of the PTE of MIMO-
WPT systems, using S-parameters and Z-parame-
ters. According to the generalized Rayleigh quotient
problem formulated in [10], the optimal currents and
optimal load impedance of MIMO-WPT systems for
maximizing the PTE were explicitly obtained. On the
other hand, Wen et al. published the MPTE of MIMO-
WPT systems based on the Rayleigh quotient [12], [13],
[14], including the case when the receiving power of
each antenna was individually controlled, which they
called the weighted method of maximum power trans-
mission efficiency. Wen’s group also provides several
experimental results to demonstrate practical appli-
cations using its proposed method. The fundamental
concept of Wen’s approach is similar to those of the
former two groups, but the unknown vector in Wen’s
generalized Rayleigh quotient includes only incident
power waves at transmitting ports. As a result, the
formulas for calculating the MPTE are suitable
only under the condition that all receiving anten-
nas are loaded by 50 Ω instead of the optimal
load impedance (50 Ω is the popular reference, or
characteristic, impedance in the RF field).
In this article, the MPTEs of SISO-WPT and
multiple-transmitter, single-receiver MISO-WPT
systems are highlighted. The approach to calculating
the PTE and MPTE of MIMO-WPT systems is based on
the Rayleigh quotient (M-RQ), while the approach [6] to
achieve the MPTE of SISO-WPT uses matching circuit
conditions (M-MC). Numerical MPTE examples of typ-
ical SISO-WPT systems are presented in the “MPTEs of
SISO-WPT Examples” section. MPTEs obtained using
M-RQ are compared with those obtained by M-MC
to demonstrate the effectiveness of M-RQ and reveal
the physical meaning of the condition for achieving
the MPTE by using M-RQ in the SISO-WPT case. In the
MISO case, MISO-WPT systems’ MPTEs versus the dis-
tance between multiple transmitters and the receiver
are compared to show how the receiver’s location
April 2023
affects the MPTE, in
the “MPTEs of MISO-
WPT Systems” section.
T h e M P T E s ve r s u s t h e
nu mber of t ra n sm it ters is
presented to see how the number
of transmitters affects the MPTE. Moreover, the MPTEs
of those examples are compared with MPTEs obtained
by Wen’s approach to confirm the importance of using
the optimal load impedance.
According to the preceding description, the appli-
cable WPT systems of our M-RQ and M-MC and other
approaches are compared in Table 1. In the table, a
circle signifies that a method is applicable without any
conditions, a triangle means that a method is applica-
ble with conditions, and a cross means that a method
is not applicable. Both our M-RQ and M-MC utilize
S-parameters to calculate the PTE and MPTE and are
applicable to arbitrary transmitter and receiver struc-
tures. The difference between these two approaches is
that M-MC can be applied only to SISO-WPT systems,
while M-RQ can be applied to any MIMO-WPT; there-
fore, M-RQ is the most universal approach. In the table,
rows 1–3 are the methods for obtaining the MPTE of
MIMO-WPT systems, and rows 4–6 are the methods to
calculate the MPTE of SISO-WPT. Rows 5 and 6 will be
further reviewed at the end of the “PTE and MPTE of
MIMO-WPT Systems” section.
This article is organized as follows. M-RQ to cal-
culate the PTE and MPTE of MIMO-WPT systems by
using an S-matrix is briefly introduced in the “PTE and
MPTE of MIMO-WPT Systems” section. Then, in the
“MPTE of SISO-WPT Systems” section, M-MC for cal-
culating the MPTE of SISO systems is reviewed, and
the MPTEs of a dipole pair and loop pair are presented.
Finally, in the “MPTEs of MISO-WPT Systems” section,
the MPTEs of several MISO-WPT systems are demon-
strated, and the features and applicable fields of M-RQ
are described in detail, as well.
PTE and MPTE of MIMO-WPT Systems
For an M # N MIMO system with M transmitters and
N receivers, as shown in Figure 1, the relationship
between the incident power waves and their reflected
power waves at all ports can be described by the
^ M + N h^ M + N h S-matrix as
R b V R s 11
S 1 W S s 12 g s 1, M + N VWR a 1 V
S W
S b 2 W S 21 s s 22 g s 2, M + N WS a 2 W
S W=S h WS (1)
h h j h W
SS W S WWS h W
b M + NW Ss M + N, 1 s M + N, 2 g s M + N, M + NXTa M + NX
T X T
where a i ^i = 1, g, M + N h represents the incident power
wave and b i ^i = 1, g, M + N h represents the reflected
power wave at the ith port, respectively. Parameter
s ij ^i = 1, f, M + N h along the diagonal of the S-matrix
41
 TABLE 1. The applicable WPT systems using different approaches.

Applicable WPT System

Authors and Their Electrical Magnetic Near-Field Far-Field

Publications Approach Coupling Coupling Coupling Coupling SISO MIMO
1. Yuan et al. [10], [11] M-RQ ⚪ ⚪ ⚪ ⚪ ⚪ ⚪
2. Wiedmann et al. [10] M-RQ ⚪ ⚪ ⚪ ⚪ ⚪ ⚪
3. Wen et al. [12], [13], [14] M-RQ (limited to transmitters ⚪ ⚪ ⚪ ⚪ ⚪ ⚪
loaded by 50 Ω)
4. Yuan et al. [6] M-MC ⚪ ⚪ ⚪ ⚪ ⚪ ✕
5. Chen and Yuan [8] kQ product based on circuit ✕ D (tight ⚪ ✕ ⚪ ✕
theory coupling
6. Ohira [15] Extended kQ product based on ⚪ ⚪ ⚪ ✕ ⚪ ✕
Z-matrix

is referred to as the self-reflection coefficient because it refers block matrix from the M transmitters to the N receiv-
only to what happens at the ith port, while off-diagonal ers, and N # N is the block scattering matrix of the N
S-parameter s ij ^i = 1, f, M + N, j = 1, f, M + N h is re- receivers, respectively.
ferred to the transmission coefficient because it refers to The PTE denoted by h is the ratio of the output
what happens at the jth port when it is excited by a sig- power Pout over the input power Pin ; that is,
nal incident wave at the ith port.
Pout
To calculate the total transmitting power at all trans- h= (3)
Pin
mitting ports and total receiving power at all receiv-
ing ports in an M # N MIMO system, the following where Pout and Pin represent the total power con-
equation is used by grouping the transmitters as one sumed at all receiving ports and total transmitting
block matrix and the receivers as another block matrix. power at all transmitting ports, respectively. Here,
Then, the incident power wave vector A T with M ele- Pout and Pin can be obtained from the port incident
ments at the transmitting ports, A R with N elements power wave vector and port reflected power wave
at the receiving ports, reflected power wave vector vector, which are
B T with M elements at the transmitting ports, and B R
Pin = 1 ^ A T - B T h
2 2
(4a)
with N elements at the receiving ports have the follow- 2
ing relationship: Pout = 1 ^ B R - A R h
2 2
(4b)
2
; E=; E; E
BT S TT S TR A T
(2) where is the Euclidean norm of a vector.
BR S RT S RR A R
Combining (2) and (4) into (3), the PTE h will be
where S TT, S TR, S RT, and S RR are the M # M block scat- expressed by S-parameters, and incident power wave
tering matrix among the M transmitters, M # N is the vector A T at the transmitting ports and A R at the
transfer coefficient block matrix from the N receivers receiving ports will be expressed as
to the M transmitters, N # M is the transfer coefficient
A T H S *TR S RT *
; E ; * E; E
S TR S RR AT
*
A R S RR S RT S RR S RR - E R A R
M Transmitters N Receivers h=- . (5)
A T H S *TT S TT - E T S *TT S TR A T
Transmitters Receivers
; E ; * * E; E
AR S RT S TT S RT S TR A R

1 M+1 In (5), E T and E R are the M # M unit matrix and

N # N unit matrix, respectively. In all equations and
STT STR formulations in this article, the superscript ^ hT means
the matrix transpose, ^ h* means the complex conju-
2 M+2
SRT SRR
gate, and ^ hH means the complex conjugate transpose,
respectively.
M M+N Equation (5) can be further transformed into the fol-
lowing simple expression:
(a) (b)

Figure 1. The (a) M transmitters and (b) N receivers of A H CA

h=- (6)
MIMO-WPT. A H DA

42 April 2023
where vector A is the power incident waves at all ports. WPT systems consisting of two dipoles and two loops
Matrix C and matrix D are expressed, respectively, as are calculated and compared.

S *TR S RT S *TR S RR
C=; * E (7a) Equivalent Two-Port Network
S RR S RT S *RR S RR - E R
A SISO-WPT system with one arbitrary transmitter and
S *TT S TT - E T S *TT S TR
D=; E. (7b) one receiver can be equivalent to a two-port network,
S *RT S TT S *RT S TR
as demonstrated in Figure 2, where a i and b i represent
The efficiency expressed in (6) is the generalized the incident power wave and reflected power wave at
Rayleigh quotient and has the maximum value h max port i ^i = 1, 2 h, respectively. Port 1 represents the trans-
because both matrix C and matrix D are Hermitian mitting port, and port 2 represents the receiving port.
matrices. From the generalized Rayleigh quotient, The S-matrix describes the relationship between a i and
(6) has the maximum value of the Rayleigh quotient, b i and can be obtained by either numerical electromag-
which is equivalent to the maximum among the fol- netic simulation or measurement using a vector network
lowing matrix’s generalized eigenvalues: analyzer (VNA).

CX = cDX (8) PTE and MPTE of SISO Systems

Obtained Using M-MC
where c is the eigenvalue that has M + N values in If port 2 is loaded with impedance Z l, as in Figure 2,
total and X is the M + N eigenvector. However, the the PTE h between the arbitrary transmitting and
power efficiency defined in (3) must be less than or receiving antennas is formulated using S-parameters:
equal to one, so h max is the largest among the eigenval- 2
P2 = b 2 - a 2
2
^ 1 - C l 2 h s 21 2
ues whose value is less than or equal to one. h= = (9)
P1 2
a1 - b2 2 2
1 - s 22 C l - s 11 - 3 C l 2
Without any approximation and additional hypo -
theses for the S-matrix and derivation processes of where
the preceding efficiency h and h max, the proposed for-
mulation is universal and exact and can be applied 3 = s 11 s 22 - s 12 s 21 (10)
Z - Z0
to any type of MIMO-WPT system, which can have Cl = l . (11)
Zl + Z0
various transmitter and receiver geometries. Also, the
preceding approach has no limitation on the operat- Here, Z 0 is the referenced impedance; usually, its value
ing frequency, distance between the transmitters and is 50 Ω. MPTE h max is obtained by applying the follow-
receivers, and power coupling methods, as indicated ing matching conditions at port 1 and port 2:
in Table 1.
The corresponding eigenvector to the eigenvalue Z s = Z *in, Z l = Z *out . (12)
of h max is the optimal incident power wave vector. If
this optimal incident power wave vector is denoted As shown in Figure 2, Z in is the input impedance,
by A opt, then the optimal incident power wave vec- looking into the right side from port 1, and includes
tor B opt can be obtained by SA opt . Finally, the opti-
mal excitation voltage for each transmitter port and
optimal load impedance at each receiver’s port can Transmitter Receiver
be easily obtained by A opt and B opt according to the
Port 1 Port 2
relationship between the incident/reflected power
wave and voltage/current at each port, as described
in [11]. Zs P2 Zl
P1
V0
MPTE of SISO-WPT Systems
When M = N = 1 in Figure 1, the MIMO-WPT sys-
tem is a SISO-WPT system focused as the funda- Γs (Zs) Γl (Zl)
mental WPT system. The most popular commercial
a1 a2
WPT charging case uses coils as the transmitter and Zs
s11 s12
P1 b2 P2 Zl
receiver. Of course, the approach described in the b1 s21 s22
preceding section can be applied to calculate the PTE
and MPTE of any SISO-WPT system. Here, another Γin (Zin) Γout (Zout)
approach, M-MC [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], based on the
matching conditions at the transmitting and receiv- Figure 2. The equivalent circuit of an arbitrary transmitter
ing ports, is briefly introduced. MPTEs of typical and receiver.

April 2023 43
 load impedance Z l, and Z out is the output impedance, 2
h max = 1 - (18)
looking into the left side from port 2, and includes 1 + 1 + k2 Q1 Q2
source impedance Z s . Applying the matching condi-
tion of (12), the MPTE of (9) will be where k = M L 1 L 2 is the coupling coefficient between
two coils, M is the mutual inductance, and L 1 and L 2
^ 1 - C opt 2
h s 21 2
h max =
l
. (13) are the self-inductances of the transmitting coil and
opt 2 opt 2
1 - s 22 C l - s 11 - 3 C l receiving coil, respectively; Q 1 is the quality factor
of the transmitting coil, while Q 2 is the quality fac-
Compared with the PTE in (9), C l is replaced with tor of the receiving coil. However, this approach is
opt opt
C l in (13), while C l and C opt
s are obtained by the fol- effective only when the k and Q factors can be sepa-
lowing formulations, respectively: rately measured; it cannot be applied to general cases
where the kQ product cannot be separately measured
B 1 ! B 21 - 4 C 1 2
C sopt = (14a) and estimated, and it is also not correct for weak
2C 1
coupling cases when two coils are separated too far,
opt B 2 ! B 22 - 4 C 2 2
as explained in [8]. Although the kQ product was
Cl = (14b)
2C 2
extended to a general SISO system based on Z-param-
where eters in [15], this extended kQ product is the interme-
B 1 = 1 + s 11 2 - s 22 2 - 3 2
(15a) diate parameter to obtain the MPTE in WPT systems
2 2 2
and further needed to calculate the MPTE, which is
B 2 = 1 + s 22 - s 11 - 3 (15b) essentially the same, derived using S-parameters in
*
C 1 = s 11 - Ds 22 (16a) (13). The MPTE based on Z-parameters can also be
C 2 = s 22 - Ds *11 (16b) found in [8].
D = s 11 s 22 - s 12 s 21 . (17)
E-WPT Software
Therefore, once the 2 # 2 S-matrix of the SISO-WPT To calculate the PTE and MPTE based on (9) and (13)
system is known, the MPTE can be calculated, and quickly and efficiently, a C#-based application, E-WPT,
both the optimal source impedance and load imped- presented in Figure 3, has been developed in our labo-
ance can be obtained. ratory. E-WPT is capable of calculating the PTE and
As mentioned before, two coils are the most popular MPTE between arbitrary transmitters and receivers
transmitter and receiver used in SISO-WPT systems. when the S-parameters of the equivalent two-port net-
The MPTE of two tightly coupling coils can be esti- works are known. The MPTE based on formula (13) is
mated conventionally using the kQ product based on achieved when both the source side and load side relate
circuit theory [8] as to their optimal impedances, respectively. E-WPT can

Start

Load S-Parameters Data File

Calculation

Output:
Efficiency
MPTE
Optimum Impedance
Matching Circuit

End

(a) (b)

Figure 3. The (a) E-WPT software and (b) its flowchart.

44 April 2023
also calculate the optimum impedances for achieving
the MPTE.
As illustrated in Figure 4, E-WPT was success-
fully used to calculate MPTEs of various transmitters
and receivers prototyped by the competitors at a 2016
WPT contest organized by the Institute of Electronics,
Information, and Communication Engineers Tech-
nical Committee on Wireless Power Transfer [18]. In
Figure 4, there is a dipole pair, loop pair, dipole and
loop pair, horn pair, and so on. E-WPT is open for free
use [18], [19] and will soon be developed to include the
MIMO-WPT system.
As described in the flowchart of Figure 3(b), first,
E-WPT requires loading an S-parameter file from
either data measured by a VNA or data from simu-
lated electromagnetic software. Second, the char-
acteristic impedance, source impedance, and load
impedance are set. Finally, E-WPT calculates the
PTE, MPTE, and optimal source and load imped-
ances simultaneously. Moreover, E-WPT is capable of
designing a matching circuit to realize the optimal
source and load impedances.
as used in [8]. The dipole–dipole pair represents the
capacitive coupling, while the loop–loop pair repre-
sents the inductive coupling. In Figure 5, both the
transmitter and receiver are composed of a dipole
with a length of 2l, which will be set to 0.1 and 0.5m
for calculating the MPTEs, while in Figure 6, both
the transmitter and receiver are composed of a loop
with a circumference of 0.1 and 0.5m. All wires of
the transmitters and receivers are made of copper
with a conductivity of 5.783 × 107 (S/m) and have the
same radius of 0.65 mm. The operating frequency
is set to 6.78 MHz. In this article, m represents
the wavelength.
The MPTE h max versus the distance d between the
transmitter and receiver is provided in Figure 7. Solid
lines represent the results obtained by M-RQ, while
circles represent the results obtained by M-MC. As
shown in Figure 7, the two MPTEs agree with each other
Z

MPTEs of SISO-WPT Examples

The structures in Figures 5 and 6 are two typical Zs
SISO systems with one transmitter and one receiver,
V0 D D Zl
X

Figure 6. The loop pair (SISO system).

100
90
80
Figure 4. Various transmitters/receivers (prototypes at the
70
2016 WPT contest). Dipole Pair (0.1λ)
60
ηmax (%)

50
Z
40 Dipole Pair (0.5λ)

30 Loop Pair (0.1λ)

20 Loop Pair (0.5λ)
Zs
10
V0 2l 2l Zl
X
0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
d/λ

d
Figure 7. The h max versus d using M-RQ (solid lines) and
Figure 5. The dipole pair (SISO system). M-MC (circles).

April 2023 45
 completely, confirming that the condition for achieving
the maximum eigenvalue of the generalized Rayleigh
quotient problem of (8) is nothing but the matching con-
ditions at the transmitting and receiving ports in the
SISO case. From Figure 7, the MPTE decreases when
the receiver moves away from the transmitter along the
x direction for both the dipole and loop cases. For the
dipole pair with a dipole length of 2l = 0.1m and loop
pair with a loop circumference of 0.1m, the MPTEs of
the two dipoles are larger than those of the loop pair
when the distance d is the same, and almost the same
performance is observed when the dipole length and
loop circumference are 0.5m except the case when the
receiver is located very near the transmitter. In both
the dipole case and loop case, the longer the antenna
element, the lower the MPTE in the near-field region,
which indicates that the electrically small element is
much more suitable for near-field power transfer, while
the electrically large element is much more suitable for
far-field power transfer.
MPTEs of MISO-WPT Systems
In this section, two types of MISO-WPT systems, included
in Figure 8(b) and (c), are used as numerical models to cal-
culate the MPTE versus the distance d by using M-RQ.
For comparison, the 1 # 1 SISO system in Figure 8(a) is
also included, which is a special case of a MISO system,
where the transmitter number is one. Figure 8(b) is a 4 # 1
MISO system, and Figure 8(c) is a 16 # 1 MISO system.
As detailed in Figure 8, the transmitting antenna
element is a half-wavelength dipole antenna, while the
receiving antenna is a 0.1-wavelength dipole antenna;
d represents the distance between the center of the trans-
mitting antenna array and receiving antenna along the
Z direction, and s represents the distance between two
neighbor elements in the transmitting array antenna
along X and Y directions. In the following simulation
results, s is set to 0.65m. The models in Figure 8(b) and
(c) were used in [17] to define the boundary between
the near-field region and far-field region of different
array antennas, where the M ^ M = 1, 16, 64 h transmitters

Z Z
0.1λ 0.1λ

d d

0.5λ s

Y Y
s
0.5λ

X
X
(a) (b)

Z
0.1λ Top View
Bird’s Eye View

d
0.1λ

Y
Y
s s

0.5λ
s 0.5λ s

X
X
(c)

Figure 8. A SISO system and two types of MISO-WPT systems: (a) a 1 × 1 SISO, (b) a 4 × 1 MISO, and (c) a 16 × 1 MISO.

46 April 2023
were regarded as an M-element antenna array, and one
receiver was used as the testing antenna.
The MPTEs versus d are plotted in Figure 9, and
the line of 1 d 2 is also plotted as a reference. The fac-
tor of 1 d 2 is the power varying versus the distance d
when the receiver is located in the far-field region of the
transmitting array antenna, according to the Friis trans-
mission formula. From Figure 9, the MPTE of the 1 # 1
SISO is much larger than those of the 4 # 1 and 16 # 1
MISO-WPTs when the distance d is less than about
0.3m, indicating that one transmitter is the most effi-
cient way to deliver the power. However, the situation
is reversed when the distance d is over 0.3m, where the
MPTE becomes higher when the transmitting antenna
number is larger, indicating that when the receiver is
far from the transmitters, the more transmitters that are
used, the higher the MPTE achieved. Moreover, when
the distance d is over 0.3m, the MPTEs of the three
types of WPT systems decreased nearly 1 d 2, varying
according to the Friis transmission formula.
In the near-field coupling, from Figure 9, the MTPE
is dominantly affected by the distance between the
receiver and closest transmitting element. When
d # 0.3m, among the three types of structures, the
receiving element of the 1 # 1 SISO is the closest to
the transmitting element, and high transmission effi-
ciency is obtained. However, even if d = 0, in the 4 # 1
and 16 # 1 MISO-WPT cases, the distance between the
receiver and its closest transmitting element exceeds
0.45m; therefore, when d # 0.3m, the 4 # 1 and 16 # 1
MISO cases obtain lower transfer efficiency than that
of SISO. However, when d 2 0.3m, the far-field coupling
is dominant, and the array with a large number of ele-
ments has a high transmission efficiency. That is the
reason why there is a cross point at 0.3m in Figure 9.
100
1 × 1 SISO
1/d 2
10
4 × 1 MISO
1 1 × 1 SISO
(50-Ω Load) 16 × 1 MISO
ηmax (%)
0.1
4 × 1 MISO
(50-Ω Load)
0.01
0.001
16 × 1 MISO
(50-Ω Load)
0.0001
0.01 0.1 1 10 100
d/λ
Figure 9. The MPTE versus d when using M-RQ (solid
lines) and M-RQ with a 50-Ω load (dashed lines).
April 2023
To further confirm this point, the MPTEs of the 5 # 1
and 17 # 1 MISO-WPT are also calculated and plotted
in Figure 10, where the 5 # 1 MISO-WPT is the 4 # 1
MISO-WPT with an additional half-wavelength dipole
located at the center of the transmitting array, while
the 17 # 1 MISO-WPT is the 16 # 1 MISO-WPT with an
additional half-wavelength dipole located at the center
of the transmitting array; this means that the transmit-
ting antenna in the SISO-WPT case is kept in the 5 # 1
and 17 # 1 MISO-WPT cases. From Figure 10, the MPTE
of the 5 # 1 MISO-WPT is larger than that of SISO when
d # 0.3m and becomes the same as that of the 4 # 1
MISO-WPT when d 2 m . The same performance is also
observed in the MPTEs of the 17 # 1 and 16 # 1 MISO-
WPT cases. Due to the center element at the transmit-
ting array structure, the MPTEs of the 5 # 1 and 17 # 1
MISO-WPT cases are always larger than those of the
SISO-WPT at any distance d, without the cross point in
the 4 # 1 and 16 # 1 MISO-WPT cases.
In [17], using the MTPE performance versus the dis-
tance, instead of the traditional 2D 2 m boundary crite-
rion, a new criterion for the boundary of the near-field
region and far-field region was proposed. In the tra-
ditional 2D 2 m boundary criterion, D represents the
maximum dimension of the antenna, which means that
the region boundary criterion depends on the antenna’s
physical size, with no relation to the antenna excitation
conditions. From Figure 9, the distance when the MPTE
behaves close to the line of 1 d 2 when using our pro-
posed approach is different from that when using a
50-Ω load impedance, demonstrating that the near-
field and far-field region boundary also depends on
the excitation conditions, as emphasized in [17]. More-
over, from the calculation of the MPTE performance
versus the distance, M-RQ can be applied to obtain the
100
1/d 2
10
4 × 1 MISO
1 1 × 1 SISO
16 × 1 MISO
ηmax (%)
0.1
1 × 1 SISO
0.01 4 × 1 MISO
16 × 1 MISO
5 × 1 MISO
0.001 17 × 1 MISO
1/d 2
0.0001
0.01 0.1 1 10 100
d/λ
Figure 10. The MPTEs of 4 × 1, 5 × 1, 16 × 1, 17 × 1
MISO cases and a 1 × 1 SISO case.
47
 MPTE when the receiver is moved from the near-field
to the far-field seamlessly. In Figure 9, the MPTEs cal-
culated using Wen’s approach, which assumes that the
receiver is loaded by 50 Ω, are also plotted in dashed
lines. The MPTEs are quite lower than the MPTEs from
our M-RQ, showing that the MPTEs obtained by (3)
and (8) are the maximum, which is achieved only when
all receiving ports are connected to the optimal imped-
ance, not the referenced impedance Z 0 .
Because the optimal excitations obtained by our
M-RQ for MISO systems make the transmitting array
antenna send the maximum power to the target receiv-
ing antenna, our proposed MPTE approach has another
potential application to array antenna beamforming
if the location of the target antenna is in the far-field
region of the transmitting array antenna, as described
in [17]. If the location of the target antenna or receiv-
ing antenna is changed, the S-matrix will change, and
the optimal excitations for each element antenna in the
transmitting array will be recalculated and adjusted,
while the system still transmits the maximum power
to the moved target antenna. In the future, more such
applications will be investigated.
Finally, it should be noted that the MPTE obtained
from (8) is the maximum for the decided transmitter and
receiver structure by applying the optimally excited volt-
ages at the transmitters’ ports and loaded by the optimal
impedance at the receivers’ ports. For the same transfer
distance, there is an optimal transmitter and receiver
structure to achieve the largest MPTE, which is quite a
complex problem and will also be our next research topic.
Conclusion
This article reviewed the universal approach of M-RQ
to calculate the PTE, MPTE, and condition for achiev-
ing the MPTE of an arbitrary MIMO-WPT system. The
MPTE is achieved by calculating the eigenvalue of the
formulated generalized Rayleigh quotient problem,
which is based on an S-matrix. Numerical examples of
SISO-WPT and MISO-WPT systems demonstrated the
effectiveness and universality of M-RQ. Our proposed
method’s features and capabilities are as follows:
1) It is applicable to any number of arbitrary struc-
tures for transmitters and receivers.
2) It is applicable to any operating frequency.
3) It is applicable to near-field coupling and far-field
radiation.
4) The MPTE, optimal excitations, and optimal load
impedance can be simultaneously achieved if the
S-matrix or Z-matrix are known.
5) The S-matrix can be calculated by full-wave elec-
tromagnetic numerical simulation software and
measured by a VNA.
6) The method can potentially be applied to array
antenna beamforming.
48
Acknowledgment
Special thanks to graduate students Riri Niizeki, Takumi
Aoki, and Hiroshi Satake for their great efforts to pro-
mote this research when they studied in my laboratory.
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April 2023
 Dielectric
Spectroscopy
Marie Mertens , Maede Chavoshi , Olivia Peytral-Rieu ,
Katia Grenier , and Dominique Schreurs

A
ccurate characterization of biological matter,
for example, in tissue, cells, and biological
fluids, is of high importance. For exam-
ple, early and correct detection of abnor-
malities, such as cancer, is essential as
it enables early and effective type-specific treatment,
which is crucial for mortality reduction [1]. Moreover,
it is imperative to investigate the effectiveness and tox-
icity of pharmaceutical treatments before administra-
tion in clinical practice [2]. However, biological matter
characterization still faces many challenges. State-
of-the-art imaging and characterization methods
have drawbacks, such as the requirement to attach
difficult-to-find and costly labels to the biological
target (e.g., COVID-19 rapid tests), expensive equip-
ment (e.g., magnetic resonance imaging), low accu-
racy (e.g., ultrasound), use of ionizing radiation (e.g.,
X-rays), and invasiveness [3]. The characterization of
biological matter using microwave (µW), millimeter-
wave (mmW), and terahertz (THz) spectroscopy is a
promising alternative: it is label-free, does not require
ionizing radiation, and can be noninvasive. Moreover,
there is a significant difference in how different bio-
logical materials absorb, reflect, and transmit electro-
magnetic (EM) waves [4] that is due to the difference
in their dielectric properties. The dielectric properties
are described by the frequency-dependent material
parameter called the complex permittivity f ^ f h,
which expresses how the material responds to an
external oscillating electric field. The complex per-
mittivity of a material determines how the material
absorbs, reflects, and transmits EM waves at differ-
ent frequencies (Figure 1). Since each biological mate-
rial’s permittivity spectrum is different, it acts as an
EM fingerprint. A material’s complex permittivity can
be calculated from the reflection and transmission
of EM waves through the material, described by the
S-parameters, which can be measured using a vector
network analyzer (VNA) transmitting and receiving
EM waves over a range of frequencies. The amplitude

Marie Mertens (marie.mertens@kuleuven.be) is with KU Leuven, 3001 Leuven, Belgium and Polytechnique Montréal, Montreal,
QC H3T 1J4, Canada. Maede Chavoshi (maede.chavoshi@kuleuven.be) is with KU Leuven, 3001 Leuven, Belgium. Olivia Peytral-Rieu
(opeytral@laas.fr) is with LAAS-CNRS, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, 31400 Toulouse, France. Katia Grenier (katia.grenier@laas.fr)
is with LAAS-CNRS, Université de Toulouse, 31400 Toulouse, France. Dominique Schreurs (dominique.schreurs@kuleuven.be) is with KU
Leuven, 3001 Leuven, Belgium.

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MMM.2022.3233510

Date of current version: 10 March 2023

©SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/TUMSTATION

April 2023 1527-3342/23©2023IEEE 49

 and phase of the transmitted and reflected EM waves
at different frequencies are influenced by different
underlying biological effects at different scales. That
causes the entire spectrum to provide information
from the supracellular to the molecular and even
atomic scale.
Spectroscopy using µW, mmW, and THz EM waves
has shown potential to sense the concentration of impor-
tant biomarkers, such as glucose in diabetes patients,
DNA and proteins that inform about genetic disorders,
and cancer biomarkers to distinguish healthy matter
from cancerous matter [4]. These applications will be
further elaborated on in the section “Dielectric Spectros-
copy Techniques.”
Dielectric Spectrum
In this section, we explain the meaning and inter-
pretation of the dielectric spectrum, representing
complex dielectric permittivity as a function of fre-
quency. The physical phenomena underlying the
spectrum’s most important features are elaborated on
in the sections “Permittivity Relaxations” and “Per-
mittivity Resonances.”
Dielectric Permittivity
As opposed to most nonbiological materials, the dielec-
tric permittivity depends heavily on the frequency of
the applied electric field for biological matter. Indeed,
at different frequencies, the material will absorb,
reflect, and transmit EM waves differently. Moreover,
permittivity is a complex material parameter:
EM
Waves Reflected
Waves
ε1 (f )
Healthy
Tissue
Transmitted
Waves
Figure 1. A conceptual illustration of how biological tissues (e.g., healthy and cancerous
tissue) absorb, reflect, and transmit EM waves differently because of the difference in their heterogeneous, and the differ-
dielectric spectra.
50
f ^ f h = fl ^ f h - jf m ^ f h . (1)
A schematic representation of both the real and the
imaginary parts of the dielectric permittivity is shown
in Figure 2. The real part of permittivity describes how
well the electric dipole moments inside the material
align to the electric field. The imaginary part of the per-
mittivity describes the EM losses in the surrounding
media. These EM losses can be attributed to the fric-
tion caused by the movement of the charges aligning
to the electric field. More fundamentally, the permit-
tivity describes polarization, and the magnitude and
phase describe its extent and delay, respectively. The
dielectric spectrum shows relaxation and resonance
phenomena. Figures 3 and 4 illustrate this relaxation
and resonance. At the frequencies of the relaxation
phenomena, also called dispersions, there is a decrease
in the real part of permittivity, whereas at the frequen-
cies of the resonance phenomena, a sharp resonance is
seen in the real part of the permittivity. These phenom-
ena will be further explained in the following section.
Permittivity Relaxations
An intuitive explanation for the relaxations (or disper-
sions) in the real part of the permittivity is given here:
an external oscillating electric field causes the align-
ment of dipole moments (due to the motion of ions,
atoms, and molecules) inside the material to the elec-
tric field. The larger this alignment, the larger the total
electric field and the larger the real part of the permit-
tivity. When the charges’ inertia causes their inability
to follow the electric field’s
oscillations, their contribution
to the total electric field drops
EM to zero. This can be seen in the
Waves spectrum as a drop in the real
Reflected part of the permittivity and is
Waves called a relaxation [3], which is
visualized in Figure 3. At each
dispersion, there is a peak in
the dielectric losses, which
ε2 (f ) can be seen in the imaginary
Cancerous
part of the permittivity. This
Tissue
frequency range is indeed
where the charges are most
out of phase, delayed to the
external electric field, causing
the presence of an imaginary
Transmitted component in the polariza-
Waves
tion. The relaxation event
does not occur at one single
frequency but over a range,
as biological matter is highly
ent ions, atoms, and molecules
April 2023
 Dielectric Permittivity of Biomatter
60
ε′
Counterion
ε″
50 Polarization
α-Relaxation
– +
– +
40
– +
ε = ε ′ − jε ′′

β-Relaxation γ -Relaxation
Maxwell-Wagner
30 Polarization

+ – + – Dipolar
+ – + –
20 + – + – Polarization
+ – + –
+ Atomic
– +
+ Resonance
10 – + Electronic
Resonance
– +
––––
0
102 104 106 108 1010 1012
Frequency (Hz)

Figure 2. The complex permittivity of biomatter (similarly represented in [4]).

+ + Oscillations of E-Field
– +
– –

–
–

– +
–
–
–

–
–
E (t )

– – – +
+
+ + – –
– –
E (t )

– – –
+ – +
– – – –
– – –
– – + –
+ –
+
–

– +
–

– +

Time (s) +

Time (s)
Oscillations of E-Field +
ε = ε ′ − jε ′′
ε = ε ′ − jε ′′

Frequency (Hz) Frequency (Hz)

Dipoles follow E-field oscillations. Dipoles follow E-field oscillations.

Dipoles have difficulty aligning to E-field, friction. Dipoles stretch like springs at fr .
Dipoles cannot line up with E. Dipoles cannot line up with E.
ε′ ε″ ε′ ε″

Figure 3. A conceptual illustration of a dispersion/ Figure 4. A conceptual illustration of a dispersion/

resonance in permittivity spectrum: as the frequency of the resonance in permittivity spectrum: as the frequency of
electric field oscillations rises, dipole moments start to be the electric field oscillations reaches the dipole’s resonance
unable to align to the electric field, and their contribution frequency, its bound charges resonate to the electric field,
to permittivity lowers, seen in a decrease in the real part of stretching out and aligning to it with maximal polarization
permittivity. as they are being pulled apart the farthest.

April 2023 51
 have slightly different relaxation frequencies. The vari- (e.g., intracellular fluid and particles) becomes pos-
ous relaxation mechanisms ( a -, b -, and c -dispersion) sible. Because of the disappearance of the space charge
are determined by distinct polarization mechanisms region, there is a decrease in polarization and as such a
for the different constituents of matter (cells and cell decrease in permittivity.
membranes, ions, molecules, atoms, and electrons) [5].
As such, the spectrum informs us about the different c -Dispersion
constituents of matter in different frequency bands. It Finally, c -dispersion occurs at frequencies near 24 GHz.
is essential to understand the fundamentals behind the This dispersion is highly influenced by the water
relaxation phenomena to understand how one could content of the material, which is often high for bio-
extract information on the biological and physiological logical matter. At frequencies below the c -dispersion,
state of a material from the frequency spectrum. the dipole constituted by the asymmetric shape of a
free water molecule vastly contributes to the induced
a -Dispersion polarization when it aligns to the external electric field.
The first relaxation is called a -dispersion. It is caused However, around 24 GHz, these molecules are unable
by the inability of ions to respond to a fast-changing to align with the external electric field [4], [6]. The
field and occurs at Hz to kHz frequencies. Unfortu- higher the free water content, the higher the orientation
nately, due to high measurement uncertainty through polarization and the higher the permittivity before the
unwanted measurement electrode polarization, c -relaxation. Given that water content varies among
a -dispersion can often not be interpreted accurately in different organs, tissues, and cells, measuring permit-
terms of permittivity [6]. tivity around the c -relaxation can help in differentiat-
ing between different organs for µW imaging, between
b -Dispersion live and dead cells, or between cancerous and healthy
The second relaxation is called b -dispersion. It is cells, and so forth. A separate dispersion is attributed
caused by the disappearance of Maxwell–Wagner to water molecules that are bound to other molecules.
polarization at the frequency of the dispersion at kHz Given the complexity of this d -dispersion, it will not be
to MHz frequencies. This Maxwell–Wagner polar- elaborated on here.
ization is caused by the presence of physical inter-
faces (e.g., cell membranes) that constitute the border Permittivity Resonances
between two different media, such as the intracellular The physical events underlying the resonances in the
and the extracellular fluid. At frequencies lower than THz part of the spectrum are rather complicated. How-
the b -dispersion and upon the effect of an external ever, we will attempt to describe the fundamental idea:
electric field, charges accumulate at the border and when the external electric field is oscillating at THz
create a space charge region, which contributes to the frequencies (1,000,000,000,000 oscillations per second),
permittivity. At frequencies higher than the b -relax- only a few very small biological structures are still able
ation, these interfaces are shortened, and they become to align to the electric field and can as such contribute
invisible to the electric field, which can now penetrate to the polarization. These small structures are 1) the
to the insides of the cell [4], [6] (see Figure 5). As such, electrons in the electron cloud surrounding their posi-
when investigating permittivity at frequencies beyond tive core and 2) atoms that are attached to each other in
the b -relaxation, examination of the cells’ contents a molecule. The electric field not only rotates them but
also pulls apart the positive
and the negative parts, after
→ → which a restoring force acts to
→ E (f < fβ) E (f > fβ)
E=0 bring them back together; the
structures then can be consid-
+ + + – + + – + + ered as if they were springs
– – – + – + – + – + + +
++ – + – – + –+ –– –
+ + – + – + – + – –– + + + [2]. At their resonance fre-
– – – – + – ++ +
––+ – + – + – + – +
– ––
++ + quency, the distance between
+ + – ––
+– + the positive and the negative
parts reaches its maximum,
No External Electric Field External Electric Field External Electric Field
Oscillating at Frequency Oscillating at Frequency first in the direction of the
Lower Than β-Relaxation Higher Than β -Relaxation external electric field (local
permittivity maximum), then,
Figure 5. An illustration of the concept of -relaxation, where the Maxwell–Wagner
b because of delay to the electric
polarization disappears because the electric field oscillations bypass the cell membranes at field, in the opposite direction
frequencies beyond the b -relaxation. (local permittivity minimum).

52 April 2023
This is illustrated in Figure 4. There is a peak in losses
because of the energy absorption that comes with the
separation of the charges. Changes in the concentration
of some important biomolecules can be observed as a
shift in resonant frequency in the dielectric spectrum
as their vibrational frequency lies in the frequency
range of 300 GHz to 1 THz [4].
To conclude, the a -, b -, and c - dispersions and the
electronic and atomic resonances that appear in bio-
logical matter’s frequency spectrum are influenced
by different biological events. Researchers can mea-
sure the whole frequency spectrum and deduct infor-
mation about all these biological events at the same
time. Indeed, researchers can characterize biological
matter based on fundamental characteristics of the
spectra, such as how broad each dispersion is and at
which frequency each relaxation occurs. Examples
of how scientific research used these characteristics
for biological matter characterization are given in the
following section. However, in practice, not many
have succeeded in really linking these parameters to
specific biological events, and so the field still needs
to advance in this area. Moreover, the frequency of
characterization can be chosen according to which
biological events are of interest to the research (e.g.,
b -frequencies to obtain information on the number
of cells and cell membranes and c -frequencies when
water content is of interest).
Finally, before diving into the practical aspects of
permittivity measurements, we ought to clarify one
thing: one might wonder why we choose to consider
dielectric constant rather than impedance. Some [7]
prefer to consider impedances which, as opposed
to dielectric permittivity, are directly measurable,
and no difficult mathematical transformations or
calculations are required to obtain them. For the
characterization of two or more cells, which always
comprise the same geometry and are measured with
the exact same method, one is completely right to
consider impedances. However, as “dielectric electri-
cal (oxymoron) engineers” [7], we consider dielectric
permittivity to be the fundamental parameter. It is
a material characteristic and should as such, after
de-embedding, be independent of the measurement
method and size and shape of the material under
test (MUT), which is not true for impedances. Even
though still to be improved in practice, the dielectric
permittivity of cells, tissues, and liquids of different
sizes should thus reflect only the content of the bio-
logical matter rather than the size, shape, and volume
of the cell.
Dielectric Spectroscopy Techniques
Dielectric spectroscopy (DS) is the measurement of
a material’s fundamental dielectric properties as a
April 2023
function of frequency. These properties can be inter-
preted as explained above and employed to charac-
terize biological matter. The general methodology
consists of 1) the measurement of the reflection and/
or transmission of EM waves as S-parameters through
the MUT, followed by 2) a mathematical conversion to
dielectric permittivity. The former will be discussed
below. The latter depends on the geometrical setup of
the measurements, as well as the size and the shape
of the MUT and the calibration method, and will not
be explained in detail further in this article. The basic
principle is that the measurement results will be de-
embedded, i.e., the effects of the setup will be removed,
until only the effect of the MUT’s permittivity is vis-
ible. Alternatively, an analytical description of the
effect of the sample’s permittivity in the measurement
results can be employed, from which the permittivity
can directly be extracted.
The most common methodologies for measurement
of S-parameters of biological matter for reflection and
transmission are explained below and illustrated in
Figure 6 and Table 1. Some applications are given as
well, and it is shown how the methods have been
selected and adapted for measurements on biologi-
cal matter. For example, biocompatibility of the
measurement device must be guaranteed, and pos-
sible EM-heating effects must be prevented. The pre-
ferred method depends on the frequency, the physical
and chemical attributes of the biological MUT (liquid/
solid, size, etc.), and the requirements in terms of sen-
sitivity and limit of detection among others. Moreover,
the operating bandwidth of the measurements plays a
key role in selecting the technology. Broadband char-
acterization provides a global measure on a broad
range of frequencies and thus lets us know about
the constituents of the matter on different scales but
requires technology that is appropriate for the whole
spectrum. The technology can be hard to develop, and
the instrumentation can be costly and fragile. Nar-
rowband characterization, however, focuses on one
to a few discrete frequencies so that the device can be
designed to be optimized to these frequencies using
cheaper and simpler components. These measure-
ments are often more precise and easier to develop.
Below we will first elaborate on broadband DS, and
then the main approaches and applications for nar-
rowband characterization will be explained.
Broadband DS
In this subsection, the most common approaches for
broadband DS of biological matter are discussed. More
specifically, coaxial probes and coplanar waveguides
(CPWs) are first explained in depth, after which we
summarize the upcoming technologies for sub-THz
and THz broadband characterization.
53
 Open-Ended Coaxial Probe
An open-ended coaxial probe is commonly used for
measurements of the reflection of EM waves (S11) from
a biological MUT in the frequency range from ! 0.1 to
10 GHz (and sometimes even for measurements up to
110 GHz). As the coaxial transmission line is cut off
at the border with the MUT, its field fringes into the
liquid or semisolid biological matter, which affects
the reflection of the EM waves [8]. The basic concept
is illustrated in Figure 7. The conversion method from

Broadband Narrowband

µ-Wire

THz
Visible
Nonplanar

Coaxial Probe as a Cavity

Coaxial Probe

Resonant Cavities
Free-Space Measurement
Biomedical Applications
of Dielectric Characterization

SRR
Planar

CPW

PGL Other Resonators CSRR

Figure 6. An illustration of different types of µW sensors for dielectric characterization of biological matter. CPW: coplanar
waveguide; CSRR: complementary SRR; PGL: planar Goubau line; SRR: split ring resonator.

TABLE 1. An overview of dielectric characterization methods for biological matter and their applications.

Dielectric Characterization Methods

Broadband/Narrowband Planar/
Method Nonplanar Frequency Range Example Applications
Coaxial probe Broadband, nonplanar: 10 MHz to 110 GHz Mainly tissue characterization: e.g., breast tissue [10], liver tissue
[11], and renal calculi [12]
Coplanar waveguide Broadband, planar: <1 GHz to sub-THz Integration with microfluidics for measurements of small volumes:
e.g., single cell detection and analysis [21], [22], detection of
mitochondrial activity [26], and detection of skin melanoma [27]
Microwire Broadband, nonplanar: sub-THz Detection of protein resonances [33], [34]
Planar Goubau lines Broadband, planar: sub-THz to THz Lysosome DS [35]
frequencies
Free-space Broadband, nonplanar: 50 GHz to THz Upcoming technology for FDS
measurements
Cavity resonator Narrowband, nonplanar Water-based solutions such as NaCl [37]
Planar resonators: Narrowband, planar Bacteria [44], [45], [46], [47], [48], glucose [51], [52], [53], [54],
SRR, CSRR, etc. [55], colon tissue [50], [56], skin tissue [57], and cells [39], [40]
CSRR: complementary SRR; FDS: frequency domain spectroscopy; SRR: split ring resonator.

54 April 2023
reflection to permittivity is well established, and the
method requires minimal sample preparation and is
easy to use [9]. The coaxial probe has mainly been used
to characterize biological tissue, from normal, benign,
and malignant breast or liver tissue to renal calculi and
muscle [10], [11], [12]. The measurement methodology
had to be adapted largely for biological tissue when
researchers noticed that the practices were not proper
for biological matter. Indeed, it was found necessary to
control the precise position and pressure of the probe on
the tissue as compressing the semisolid would change
its dielectric properties [6]. Moreover, in a large-scale
breast tissue investigation performed by Lazebnik et al.
[10], it became clear that an analysis of the content
of excised tissue before measurement was of critical
importance. A large difference was found between
dielectric properties of normal breast tissue and malig-
nant tissue, but it appeared to be largely determined by
the adipose (fatty) content of the tissue sample, which
was higher in the excised healthy samples. The differ-
ences between healthy and malignant tissue were far
smaller when this adipose content was accounted for
[10]. Nevertheless, other studies still showed promising
results: O’Rourke et al. [11] showed that the dielectric
properties of ex vivo malignant liver tissues are 19%
to 30% higher than normal tissue. Moreover, the renal
calculi (kidney stone) category can be statistically dif-
ferentiated by dielectric properties over the frequency
range from 500 MHz to 18 GHz [12].
In CPWs, the electric field lines in the dominant
mode of propagation, quasi-TEM mode, are oriented
as shown in Figure 8(a) [14]. The propagation of the
electric field will be affected by any biological matter
put on top of the transmission lines. The effective per-
mittivity of the CPW lines is a mathematically com-
plex combination of the permittivity of the dielectric
and the permittivity of the material on top of the lines
(the unknown editor of Microwaves101 [15] provides
us with the rule of thumb that it is approximately
the average). In most devices, a microfluidic channel,
sometimes with hydrodynamic traps, functions as bio-
captor and is constructed on top of the CPW lines [Fig-
ure 8(b)], mainly on the signal line and gaps where the
field is largest, to allow the electric field to be affected
by the biological matter that is pumped through the
Reflection
Figure 7. Open-ended coaxial probe method.
→
E

Planar Transmission Lines Air

Transition from nonplanar setups to planar ones
enables measurements on smaller samples and as Ground Ground
such is interesting for the measurement of extracted
Signal
biological liquid and tissue samples and cell suspen-
sions. Dielectric matter characterization can be per-
formed using many types of transmission lines, such Gap Gap
as CPWs, microstrip lines (MLs), substrate integrated Dielectric
waveguides (SIWs), and planar Goubau lines (PGLs)
Width
for higher frequencies. However, most of these meth-
(a)
ods, such as, for example, MLs and SIWs, are mainly
used for characterization of the dielectric substrate on SU8 Channel
which they are fabricated, as their modes of propaga- Wall
tion show maximum electric field distributions in the
substrate (often between a metallic ground plane and
the transmission line). They thus rely on the deposition
Microfluidic
of metallic lines onto the MUT. Characterization using Channel
CPWs (or PGLs; see next section) can be performed by
putting the sample, contained in a biocaptor, on top of CPW Line
and thus directly in contact with the metallic lines that Fluid Flow
are deposited onto another low-loss dielectric material. (b)
Gold is often used for these metallic lines as it allows
for maximum biocompatibility, resistance against oxi- Figure 8. (a) The propagation of electric field in quasi-
dation when measuring ionic substances, and good TEM mode. (b) Microfluidic channel on top of CPW line for
transmission of the EM waves. liquid characterization [13].

April 2023 55
 channel [16], [17]. In fact, as the position of the biologi-
cal object (e.g., cell or organelle) must be controlled
to maximize the sensitivity, “trapping” structures
can be added to the microfluidic structure [18], [19].
As the CPW operates in the GHz frequency range,
where the electric field can probe the inside of the cells
through the shortening of the capacitive effect of the
cell membrane, it is used extensively in investigating
the intracellular components of different cell lines and
their reaction to chemical and physical treatment [18],
[20], [21], [22]. Moreover, CPW lines can be adapted to
measure the dielectric properties of biological matter
of different sizes, from in vivo tissue characterization
down to single cells, making it a promising technique
to monitor the effects of drugs on different biological
entities in a label-free, noninvasive, and nondestruc-
tive way [16], [17]. Different studies have shown the
possibility to monitor cell electroporation, electroche-
motherapy, and the effect of saponin and mitochon-
drial activity at the single-cell or cells-in-suspension
level as represented respectively in the first and sec-
ond images of Figure 9 [21], [22], [23], [26]. For instance,
in [23], it was found that saponin, which affects the
cell membrane and allows for exchange of contents
through the membrane, effectively caused a reduc-
tion in dielectric contrast between the extracellular
and intracellular medium. Furthermore, mitochon-
drial activity can be monitored. This is important as it
can be an indicator for how cells will react to therapy.
Moreover, melanomas (skin cancers) have been stud-
ied directly in vivo and can be detected using µW
spectroscopy with a sensor in contact with the skin
of the subject, as represented in the fourth image of
Figure 9 [27]. Finally, the dielectric characterization of
microtissue (3D cell aggregates as a model for cancer
tissue) is emerging with the device represented in the
middle of Figure 9 [19], [28]. In conclusion, the CPW
allows studies in multiple biosample scales as summa-
rized in Figure 9 [19], [23], [27], [28], [29].
Single Cell Molecules or Cells in
Suspension
RF RF
In Out
CPW
Lymphoma Cells
Suspension
One Trapped Lymphoma Cell
Figure 9. Examples of µW transmission-based sensors depending on biosample scale for dielectric characterization showing
the versatility of CPW sensors in biological applications [19], [23], [27], [28], [29].
56
Sub-THz and THz Measurements
In this section, we list interesting technologies for broad-
band sub-THz and THz measurements (0.1 THz to
10 THz). These frequency ranges show great potential
for dielectric characterization. THz time domain spec-
troscopy (TDS) has been shown to be able to detect drug
effectiveness through comparison of absorption coeffi-
cients and refractive indices in [30]. It was found that these
coefficients and indices showed the trend toward healthy
tissue when a drug was administered and the negative
effect on the healthy cells, respectively. Moreover, in [31],
promising results were obtained showing significant dif-
ferences in the THz absorption spectrum for different his-
tological types, pathological grades, and glioma-specific
biomarkers in measurements of healthy and cancerous
brain tissue. In [32], myocardial amyloidosis (deposition
of specific protein causing heart stiffness) was detected
using THz TDS, combined with convolutional neural
networks. Finally, as mentioned in the explanation of
dielectric permittivity, the frequency spectrum overlaps
with the resonance frequencies of important proteins and
biomolecules in this range. To extend these methods for a
more accurate frequency domain analysis with higher fre-
quency resolution, there is a need to establish frequency
domain spectroscopy methods at THz frequencies. Tech-
nologies are being developed to cope with the high loss of
EM power into lossy biological MUT and the high noise
that is inherent to these frequency bands. For instance,
[33] showed the use of a microwire to detect resonating
proteins at 0.314 THz excited by visible light. Moreover, a
protein concentration change effectively caused a change
in the measured resonance frequency in [34]. Planar alter-
natives are being researched as well, such as the PGL, a
fine ML with no ground onto which the Goubau mode
can be excited through the CPW to PGL transition. This
mode shows high confinement around the line and can
be used for measurement of extremely small structures
close to the line. In [35], transmission through lysozymes
was successfully measured using PGL. More research is
Biosample Scale
Microtissue Animal
CPW Access Fluidic Walls
RF In RF Out
Microtissue in PBS
April 2023
necessary to investigate the further capabilities of PGL.
Finally, research is ongoing for the use of free space mea-
surements of biological cells and tissues. Interestingly,
the sub-THz to THz measurements are hovering on the
border between THz spectroscopy and visible light spec-
troscopy, slightly farther from our field of knowledge but
definitely not less important. Researchers are exploring
the borders of both the µW and light (toward quantum)
theories and verifying how they can be crossed.
Narrowband Characterization of
Biological Matter
The technologies and applications discussed so far are
mainly used for broadband DS of biological matter,
i.e., in a wide frequency range. However, broadband
permittivity information is not necessarily needed in
many cases; for example, if one is interested in study-
ing the presence or absence of a specific substance,
solution concentrations, and viability and growth of
cells or organisms like bacteria, among others, at a
single frequency or in a small frequency range, nar-
rowband techniques can be more precise and faster to
investigate dielectric properties of materials.
Narrowband measurements often employ a reso-
nance-based µW sensor that concentrates the electric
field at frequencies near a specific frequency, depending
on the application. The term “resonance” in this section
is different from the one used in the prior sections; here
we mean the resonance of a circuit, due to its compo-
nents. Depending on the structure of a sensor, it can be
modeled as a resonant circuit, including an inductance
L, capacitance C, and a term relating to conductivity (or
inversely, resistance) G or R. Depending on modeling,
they can be connected in a series or parallel form.
This is how these resonant sensors come into play:
the sensor behaves as a series or a parallel RLC cir-
cuit with its components tuned by the MUT’s prop-
erties. For instance, the resonance frequency fres and
the quality factor Q define the resonance behavior of
the sensor. Although the precise relation depends on
sensor configuration and calibration, we can approxi-
mately assume that the resonance frequency (deter-
mined by the equivalent inductance L and capacitance
C) is related to the permittivity as
fres = 1 ? 1 (2)
2r LC f L
and the quality factor can be inversely related to the
losses as
Q? 1 . (3)
tan d
Thus, the interaction of the highly concentrated
field and the MUT determines the system’s frequency
response by changing
April 2023
fres " fres , and Q 0 " Q 1 .
0 1 (4)
Nevertheless, challenges in resonance-based bio-
logical matter measurements arise from the fact that a
considerable portion of them consists of a highly lossy
substance: water. The loss decreases the quality factor,
flattening the resonance dip and making it difficult to
find the resonance frequency.
Various types of planar and nonplanar µW resonant
sensors are used for DS of different biological matter,
ranging from aqueous biological solutions, like glucose
or saline solutions, to cells and tissues. Here we subdi-
vide the narrowband technologies into nonplanar cav-
ity resonators and planar resonators.
Nonplanar Cavity Resonators
In the case of nonplanar cavity resonators, devices such
as coaxial resonators have been developed to study the
concentration of solutions. As the name implies, a cav-
ity consists of a hollow space filled with the sample,
and the resonance behavior changes according to the
sample’s permittivity.
As discussed previously, in wideband open-ended
coaxial probe measurements, the sample is in contact
with the end of the probe, changing the impedance.
Instead of relying only on the conventional com-
mercially available probes, the idea of designing a
closed-ended coaxial resonator by replacing the inner
dielectric of the coaxial probe with the MUT is pro-
posed in [36]. In both cases, the sample is in contact
with the probe, which makes the probe susceptible to
contamination and the measurements prone to error.
To avoid any direct contact with the sample, cavities
for contactless measurement have been introduced
[37], [38]. In these cavities, a container is placed inside
or close to the cavity, and the electric field is perturbed
when the container is loaded with the sample. Figure 10
illustrates a cavity resonator with a container for con-
tactless liquid characterization.
For instance, a cylindrical resonator for contactless
measurement of NaCl solution (0%–5%) was proposed
D q
q1
L1
R
0 20 40 (mm)
Figure 10. A cylindrical resonator with a container for
loading the sample for contactless measurement of liquid
concentration [35].
57
 in [37]. This sensor includes a probe inserted into a cav-
ity and a container to be filled with the saline solution.
Among the main propagation modes (TE111, TM010,
and TE011), the one with the highest quality factor and
the largest separation from the other modes is chosen
(TE011). Based on the perturbation theory, the variation
in permittivity Df is obtained.
Planar Resonators
Despite having a higher quality factor, nonplanar reso-
nant sensors are often bulky, whereas in biomedical
applications of DS, an appropriate platform for sam-
ples with a volume as small as nL or μL is required.
Although bulk sensors can be integrated with micro-
fluidics [39], miniaturized planar sensors are more eas-
ily compatible with various microfluidic systems such
as lab-on-a-chip, organ-on-a-chip, cell sorting and
trapping, and flexible electronics and wearables.
In fact, basically any structure that forms an RLC cir-
cuit on a planar technology, such as CPW or microstrip,
can be utilized as a planar resonant sensor, including
but not limited to split ring resonators (SRRs), their
dual counterparts complementary SRRs (CSRR), and
interdigitated capacitors combined with other men-
tioned structures or solely with an inductance.
In this section, we will discuss how various µW
planar resonators have been introduced to the fields
of chemistry and biology, focusing on more recent
advances in applications of SRRs and CSRRs.
SRRs
Planar SRRs make it possible to observe the occur-
rences close to the surface of a sensor, thanks to inter-
action of a biomatter with the highly concentrated
electric field in the slit of a split ring. One newly devel-
oped example is a hairpin resonator for melanoma cell
detection [40]. As the cell is trapped in a channel, the
EM wave goes through the growth medium, enters the
cells, and passes through the growth medium again to
reach the other electrode. Although it is usually pre-
ferred to evaluate the change in transmission ampli-
tude, the reflection (S11) change is more pronounced
than the transmission (S21) change in this case. A
higher variation in reflection due to the nonhomo-
geneous interface between the cell and the medium
explains this difference.
While trapping techniques often accommodate sin-
gle-cell DS, Watts et al. [39] introduce a biosensor that
consists of a double SRR that detects the free-flowing
live cells moving in the microfluidic channel along the
gap. This sensor cannot be considered entirely planar
as it has a copper cavity for stimulation, and the gold
ring resonator is deposited on a glass coverslip. Nev-
ertheless, this hybrid configuration produces a large
quality factor, even with lossy water.
58
Following the studies on DS for cells and bacteria
[41], [42], [43], SRR-based sensors have been developed
for real-time monitoring of bacteria concentration and
growth [44], [45], [46] and the effect of glucose or antibiot-
ics on this growth [47], [48]. As illustrated in Figure 11(a),
the resonance frequency changes the most when the sam-
ple is placed over the ring gap, and so the bacteria growth
medium is placed over the sensitive gap in SRR, and the
corresponding capacitance and conductance gradually
change over time, which is measured through the change
in amplitude of the reflection or the transmission as well
as the resonance frequency shift. The time-dependent
variation of the resonance amplitude for two different
volumes of Escherichia coli [Figure 11(b)] corresponds to
the bacterial growth. As the simulation results in Figure
11(c) and (d) confirm, the changes in the loss tangent con-
tribute to changes in the amplitude, which can be trans-
lated into bacterial growth.
SRRs have also been implemented in tissue studies,
focusing on the tissues’ dielectric characteristics as a
key feature of their physiological state. A microstrip
ring resonator (MRR) with CPW access has been
devised to measure the dielectric parameters of ani-
mal tissues [49]. The sensor is made up of an MRR
on the top surface with CPW feed lines on the other
side, and the sample is loaded as a superstrate on
the MRR. The advantage of the proposed configura-
tion compared with a simple MRR with a microstrip
feedline is that the sample-induced losses do not affect
the signal propagation in feedlines. The same as the
applications of Goubau line for broadband measure-
ment of biomatter, at higher frequencies (~600 GHz), a
THz-imaging technique based on SRR integrated with
PGL is proposed in [50]. With a bare sensor resonance
frequency of 596 GHz, healthy and cancerous colonic
tissue models cause 130- and 155-GHz frequency
shifts to lower frequencies, respectively. Nevertheless,
the effective sensing depth of the sensor is limited to
a few micrometers, limiting its performance in deeper
analysis of a tissue.
CSRRs
CSRRs are one of the most popular planar resonators
because of the strong electric field perpendicular to the
CSRRs’ surface, improving the penetration depth. This
is important especially when a sample is not sensed in
direct contact to the sensor as, for example, sensing the
blood beneath multiple layers of skin or in a container
to investigate blood glucose concentration or in vivo
tissue characterization. Omer et al. have developed
several glucose sensors in a hexagonal CSRR form
(honey cell) [51], [52], [53] and three circular CSRRs
[54], [55] for wearable applications. An illustration is
given in Figure 12. These studies not only present a
novel structure compared with a single CSRR but also
April 2023
develop 1) a dipole antenna tag reader for distant sens-
ing and 2) a radar-driven portable sensor to overcome
the need for high-cost and bulky VNAs. The sensor’s
selectivity and specificity remain the main constraints
in using DS for glycemia. The presence of other sub-
stances such as ions, proteins, and other molecules can
negatively affect the repeatability and reproducibility
of the measurements. However, the glucose concen-
tration in the blood is dominant compared with these
other components [51], enabling the design of µW sen-
sors for glycemia monitoring as a potential noninva-
sive replacement for currently available invasive and
minimally invasive solutions.
Similar to the case of blood glucose biosensors, non-
invasive in vivo tissue spectroscopy requires a good
penetration depth such that the signal passes through
different layers. Furthermore, flexibility and spatial
resolution are essential. For instance, Maenhout et al.
[56] developed a flexible tubular device using CSRRs
with high penetration depth to characterize colorec-
tal tissue. The prototype is designed to be deployed
in patients’ colons and evaluate the tissue’s health or
malignancy in six directions (Figure 13).
Skin tissue and its abnormalities have also been
considered as a possible application of resonant µW
sensors [57] and CSRRs; as in [58], the performance of a
CSRR-based sensor on a detection of cancerous cells in
a skin tissue phantom is validated using simulations.
Variation in the amplitude and phase of reflection and
transmission coefficients in the frequency range of
2–18 GHz is correlated to the presence of cancer cells
with higher water content in the epidermis of their
developed skin model.
The resonant sensors and the characterized biologi-
cal matter are not limited to what we discussed here;
the research in this area is ongoing, aiming to improve

0 0.2
Bare Resonator Control
Material on Ring Gap E. coli –3 µ L
–3 Material on Coupling Gap Fitting Curve–3 µ L
0.15
E. coli –9 µ L
∆ Amplitude (dB)

–6 9 mm Fitting Curve–9 µ L
S11 (dB)

6 mm 0.1
–9 (a)

–12
0.05
6 mm
9 mm
–15
(b)
(c)
0
1.55 1.6 1.65 1.7 1.75 1.8 0 7 14 21 28 35
Frequency (GHz) Time (h)
(a) (b)

–13.5
–5

–14
S11 (dB)
S11 (dB)

–10

–14.5 εr′ = 1.5

tanδ = 0.0001
tanδ = 0.0003 –15 εr′ = 2
tanδ = 0.0005 εr′ = 2.5
–15 tanδ = 0.0007
εr′ = 3
tanδ = 0.0009
–20
1.716 1.7165 1.717 1.7175 1.718 1.68 1.69 1.7 1.71 1.72
Frequency (GHz) Frequency (GHz)
(c) (d)

Figure 11. The planar SRR sensor for bacterial growth monitoring in a real-time manner with (a) effect of putting the sample
on the coupling gap or the ring gap, (b) shift in the amplitude of resonance during time due to bacterial growth and permittivity
variation, and (c) and (d) simulation results that show resonance frequency and amplitude changes for different matter with
different permittivity [44].

April 2023 59
 the specifications such as quality factor and sensitivity,
for a more precise detection.
Conclusions and Future Perspectives
In conclusion, the field of DS is large and growing.
This nonionizing, noninvasive, and label-free char-
acterization technique is already employed for bio-
logical matter in the detection of cancer biomarkers,
glucose sensing in diabetes patients, and many more
areas and can be adapted for the characterization of
any type of biological matter on a continuously low-
ering scale as the operating frequencies rise through
the development of new measurement technologies
and equipment. The biomedical applications of DS
are not limited to the ones mentioned here, neither
are the technologies only valuable on their own. Com-
bining different DS techniques as well as combining
DS techniques with other characterization methods,
e.g., electrochemical analysis, can allow us to achieve
measurements in a broader frequency range [59], [60].
Moreover, artificial intelligence has yet to improve this
D1
Wline
Lc
Cc Rc
Resonator Part LR CR RR
(CSRR)
Ground Copper Plane (Top)
Figure 12. A triple CSRR sensor for noninvasive glucose measurement and equivalent electrical model of a single CSRR
loaded with MUT [54].
60
field as drastically as it did a lot of scientific domains in
the last decades: machine learning algorithms can be
applied in the design process [24] or in data analysis,
such as for classification [25] or personalized sensor
calibration, to improve the performance of DS. Despite
the advances in sensor miniaturization as well as mea-
surement techniques and instruments, bringing DS to
point-of-care applications remains challenging. Large,
complicated, and costly VNA setups which require
calibration before measurements restrain the applica-
tion of the sensors for untrained users. Moreover, it
causes the devices to be a chip-in-a-lab rather than a
lab-on-a-chip. Recent progress in the development of
VNA-on-a-chip is considered a game changer in that
regard and is expected to bring the devices into the
mobile testing domain. Finally, DS combined with
µW heating brings up new possibilities in cancer
theranostics; the tumor can be detected through DS
(diagnostics) and specifically targeted as its dielec-
tric properties alter its sensitivity to ablation tech-
niques (therapeutics).
g
S W
D2
t
Lc
Signal Line
Substrate Sensing
(Coupling Part) Region
CM RM Superstrate
(MUT)
Engraved Dielectric Slots ML (Bottom)
April 2023

G [12] T. Yilmaz et al., “Microwave dielectric spectroscopy of renal cal-
R culi: A large scale study on dielectric properties from 500 MHz to
W
S 10.1109/TMTT.2017.2731950.
Cc1 Cc2
L1 PM1C1 L2 PM2C2
Figure 13. A flexible tubular device for colon tissue DS using
three CSRRs and their equivalent electrical models [56].
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April 2023
 Microwave
LC Oscillators

©SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/ARTHEAD

Pei Qin , Quan Xue, and Wenquan Che

T
he rapid development of wireless com-
munications, software-defined radios,
and ultrawideband (UWB) engenders an
ever-increasing demand for clock gener-
ators that fully covers multiple frequency
bands [1], [2], [3]. As the “heartbeat” that pumps
clock generators, such as phase-locked loops (PLLs),
microwave oscillators with wideband frequency
tuning range (TR) are thus attracting a great deal of
research interest.
Introduction
LC oscillators are well known for their superior phase
noise over ring oscillators and their other counterparts
due to the sufficiently high quality factor (Q) of the LC
tank. Therefore, LC oscillators are often selected as
optimal architectures in applications such as base sta-
tions and cellular phones.
Conventional single-mode LC oscillators, which
adjust their resonant frequencies merely by capacitive
tuning through switched capacitors or varactors, often
suffer from relatively small frequency-tuning capabil-
ity as the increased variability in frequencies normally
leads to deteriorated phase noise due to the degraded
Q of the LC tanks. The TR of an LC oscillator with
capacitive tuning can be represented as
C p + C max - C p + C min
TR = 2 (1)
C p + C max + C p + C min
where C p refers to the parasitic capacitance from the
cross-coupled pairs, and C max and C min correspond to
the maximum and minimum capacitances from the
tuning capacitors.
Due to its limited on-off capacitance ratio (C max /C min),
a single-mode LC oscillator normally covers a

Pei Qin (qinpei7777@scut.edu.cn), Quan Xue (eeqxue@scut.edu.cn), and Wenquan Che (eewqche@scut.edu.cn) are with the Guangdong
Provincial Key Laboratory of Millimeter-Wave and Terahertz, the School of Microelectronics and the School of Electronic and Information
Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, China.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MMM.2022.3233511
Date of current version: 10 March 2023

April 2023 1527-3342/23©2023IEEE 63

There are several techniques that
have been proposed in the literature
to realize multimode switching for
microwave LC oscillators.
maximum frequency TR of around 40% in advanced
CMOS nodes [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10]. Considering
the frequency fluctuations under process-voltage-
temperature conditions and the frequency overlap
margins when switching among different oscillators,
the actual applicable frequency TR for a single-mode
LC oscillator could be only around 20%. This TR is far
from enough for those oscillators to cover the multiple
bands in wireless communications, software-defined
radios, or UWB. In wireless communication systems,
to satisfy multiple communication standards, the one-
octave band is normally required for oscillators. The
one-octave band can easily synthesize all frequencies
below those directly generated by the oscillators, thus
covering all the required bands.
A conventional solution for realizing such a wideband
TR is to employ multiple oscillators, as exemplified in
Figure 1, where four oscillators are alternately switched
on to realize the specific frequencies for different bands.
Yet this clock configuration causes many adverse effects
on the chip size, cost, power consumption, and design
complexity of peripheral circuits, such as output buffers,
clock distributions, control circuits, and power supplies.
The optimal solution would achieve a wide-frequency
OSC0
OSC1
FCW +
Σ DIG
OSC2
– –
OSC3
Counter
Fref
Ckin
Buffer TDC
Figure 1. A conventional solution with four oscillators versus an optimal solution with one oscillator covering a one-octave
band in all-digital PLLs. DIV: divider; MUX: multiplexer; FCW: frequency control word; OSC: oscillator; CKO: clock output;
TDC: time to digital converter; DIG: digital; Fref: reference frequency; Ckin: clock in; CLKP/N: clock P/N.
64
TR using only one oscillator. However, it is extremely
challenging to obtain wideband TR relying solely on
conventional single-mode LC oscillators.
Multimode switching techniques can greatly
expand the frequency coverage for microwave LC
oscillators by introducing more resonant modes; thus,
they are good options for the realization of wideband
oscillators. Therefore, this article aims to present
multimode switching design techniques for micro-
wave LC oscillators to extend their frequency TR and
provide researchers interested in this domain with a
comprehensive understanding of various aspects of
these techniques.
Multimode Switching Techniques
There are several techniques that have been proposed
in the literature to realize multimode switching for
microwave LC oscillators [11], [12], [13], [14], [15], [16],
[17], [18], [19], [20], [21], [22], [23], [24], [25], [26], [27], [28],
[29], [30], [31], [32], [33], [34], [35], [36], [37], [38], [39], [40],
[41], [42], [43], [44], [45], [46], [47], [48], [49], [50], [51], [52],
[53], [54], [55], [56]. These techniques can be broadly
classified into four methods: inductor switching (IS)
[11], [12], [13], [14], [15]; transformer-loaded switching
(TLS) [16], [17], [18], [19], [20], [21], [22], [23], [24], [25],
[26], [27], [28]; multicore switching (MS) [29], [30], [31],
[32], [33], [34], [35], [36], [37], [38], [39], [40], [41]; and mul-
timode resonance switching (MRS) [42], [43], [44], [45],
[46], [47], [48], [49], [50], [51], [52], [53], [54], [55], [56].
IS realizes a variable inductor by switching over
its inductor segments, thus adjusting the resonant
OSC
Buffer
Buffer
Buffer
CLKN_PLL-OUT
MUX
DIV1/2/4/
CKO
6/8/ ...
Buffer CLKP_PLL-OUT
Buffer Digital Circuit
Oscillator Related
Other Circuit
DIV
1/2/3/4
April 2023
frequency of the oscillator. TLS makes use of the differ-
ent loadings in the secondary coils of the transformer
that help change the effective inductances for LC tanks,
thus tuning the resonant frequencies. In MS, multiple
oscillator cores are combined and alternately turned
on and off to satisfy different frequency requirements,
thus broadening the frequency TR. As for MRS, it takes
advantage of the even and odd resonant modes of LC
resonators to achieve more resonant modes for the LC
resonators. These techniques are all useful methods
for obtaining a wide-frequency TR in microwave LC
oscillators; they all obtain different working principles
and have different advantages and disadvantages.
Thus, the following sections discuss the details of each
of these techniques, including their basic concepts,
design examples, merits, and drawbacks.
IS
In general, an LC oscillator adopts an individual induc-
tor (L d) as its inductive element, and its resonant fre-
quency is adjusted by varying the switched capacitors
or varactors (C d), that is, the single-mode LC oscillator,
as exemplified in Figure 2(a). However, as mentioned
previously, switched capacitors or varactors normally
are not sufficient to support the oscillator obtaining a
frequency TR above 40%. In such cases, one approach
to extend the frequency TR is to truncate the inductors
into several segments by IS, thus increasing the effec-
tive inductances. Figure 2(b)–(d) displays several typi-
cal methods to realize the IS, such as shunt switches
and bridge circuits.
Shunt Switches
As we can see from Figure 2, the individual inductor
(L d) can be directly truncated into segments by one or
more shunt switches or transformed into a bridge cir-
cuit and then divided into segments by switches. As for
the shunt switches in Figure 2(c), by turning on and off
A bridge circuit has been proposed
as an effective method for
alleviating the Q degradation
from the IS.
the switches or their combinations, different equivalent
inductances can be achieved. Taking the switched
inductor with one shunt switch as an example, assum-
ing that the impedance of L 1 is Z 0 # (1 - a) /2 and L 2 is
Z 0 # a/2 (0 # a # 1, Z 0 = R 0 + j~L 0), the series imped-
ance between A and B can be calculated as (2) [15].
Z A - B = Z 0 # ^1 - ah +
Z 0 # a # R SW
. (2)
Z 0 # a + R SW
Neglecting the parasitic capacitance, when the
switch is off, Z A-B equals (3).
Z A - B = R 0 + j~L 0 . (3)
In addition, assuming R 0 % ~L 0 and R SW % ~L 0,
when the switch is on, Z A-B is then simplified as (4).
Z A - B . R 0 ^1 - ah + R SW + j~L 0 ^1 - ah . (4)
This indicates that there are two different effective
inductances under the on and off states. Considering
the equivalent inductances as coarse tuning and the
variable capacitors as fine tuning, the frequency TR
of the LC oscillator using switched inductors can be
greatly increased compared to that of a single-mode
configuration.
Obviously, when the switch is on, R SW is directly
inserted as the effective series resistance into Z A-B;
thus, it will degrade the tank Q and deteriorate the
phase noise. So, the switch needs to be well designed
with a large transistor size to alleviate the degrada-
tion of Q. However, a switch with a large transistor

VDD
Ld /2 Ld /2
A B A SW1 B A
A A L1,1
Cd Cd L1 L1 L2,1
SW1
Ld /2

L1 SW L1 L1,1 L2,1 L1,2 SW2 L2,2

L2 SW2 L2 SW
SW3
L3 SW3 L3
Ld /2

L2 L2 L N–1 SW4 L2,N–1

L1,2 L2,2 1,
M1 M2
B L4 L4
L1,N L2,N
Individual B
One-Shunt Multiple-Shunt B
Ld Bridge
BridgeCircuits
circuit
Switch Switches
VSS
(a) (b) (c) (d)

Figure 2. (a) A conventional single-mode LC oscillator with an individual inductor (Ld), (b) the drain inductor, (c) the shunt
switches, and (d) the bridge circuits. VDD: power supply; VSS: ground.

April 2023 65
 reduces the self-resonant frequency of the inductor
and also decreases the frequency TR due to its para-
sitic capacitance. Thus, the tradeoff of these design
parameters has to be carefully considered in the oscil-
lator design.
The number of shunt switches or inductor seg-
ments corresponds to the number of coarse tuning
bands. A switched inductor with one shunt switch
has been designed in several LC oscillators [11], [12].
Figure 3 displays a circuit schematic of the oscillator
with one shunt switch; the realization of the switched
inductor; the measured frequency; and the measured
phase noise in [11]. By turning on and off the shunt
switch, this oscillator obtains both high- and low-fre-
quency bands with a measured overall frequency TR
of 87.2% ranging from 3.3 to 8.4 GHz and a measured
phase noise ranging from −122 to −117.2 dBc/Hz at a
1-MHz offset under a power consumption from 6.5 to
15.4 mW [11].
LC oscillators with multiple parallel switches have
also been investigated as a means to broaden the fre-
quency TR [13], [14]. Figure 4 shows a circuit schematic
of the LC oscillator with three shunt switches and its
inductor realization in [13]. The switched inductor is
constructed by cascading four inductor loops with
three shunt switches between the adjacent sections.

Vtune

VSW
...
...

...

...
Capacitor
Bank Selection

(a)

8 –114
Lower Band Upper Band
Phase Noise (dBc/Hz)

Upper Band Lower Band

Frequency (GHz)

7 –116

6
–118
384-MHz Frequency Overlap
5
–120
4
–122
3
0 2 4 8 16 32 3 4 5 6 7 8
Capacitor Control Frequency (GHz)
(b) (c)

Figure 3. (a) The schematic of the IS LC oscillator with one shunt switch and the realization of the truncated inductor in [11],
(b) the measured frequency TR, and (c) the measured phase noise. VSW: V_switch. (Source: Taken from [11].)

66 April 2023
This oscillator is incorporated in a millimeter-wave
(mm-wave) signal generation circuit with a # 4 multi-
plier, where direct measurement results for the oscilla-
tor were not demonstrated. The measured frequency
TR for the final signal generator ranges from 85 to
125 GHz with the phase noise varying from −108 to
−102 dBc/Hz at a 10-MHz offset over the output fre-
quency range [13].
Bridge Circuits
A bridge circuit has been proposed as an effective
method for alleviating the Q degradation from the IS.
As shown in Figure 2(d), a bridge circuit is connected
in parallel by one or more unbalanced switches. Taking
a bridge circuit with one switch as an example, if we
assume that the impedance of L 1, 1 (L 2, 2) is Z 0 # (1 + a)
and that of L 1, 2 (L 2, 1) is Z 0 # 1 - a), where a = ^TL/L h,
0 # a # 1, and Z 0 = R 0 + j~L 0, the series impedance
between A and B is calculated as (5) [15].
R SW + Z 0 ^1 - a 2h
ZA - B = Z0 # . (5)
R SW + Z 0
Compared to IS, TLS seems more
appealing in mm-wave applications
due to its higher flexibility in layout
implementation.
Neglecting the parasitic capacitance, when the
switch (SW) is off, Z A-B equals Z 0 .
Assuming R 0 % ~L 0 and R sw % ~L 0 at high fre-
quency, when the SW is on, Z A-B is given by (6).
Z A - B . R 0 ^1 - a 2h + R SW # a 2 + j~L 0 ^1 - a 2 h. (6)
From (6), the effective series resistance of the
SW i s de c r e a s e d by a fac tor of a 2, wh ic h w i l l
somewhat alleviate the tank Q degradation. Fig-
ure 5 shows a circuit schematic of an LC oscillator
using multiple unbalanced switches in the bridge
circuit with the realization of the bridge inductor
and the measured results. In Figure 5(b) and (c),
the measured results show a wideband frequency

VDD

Vbias Mbias Center

Tap
R1 = 18 µm
SW1
NMOS Switch
Differential
R2 = 15 µm SW1
Inductors
SW2

R3 = 12 µm SW2
SW3

SW3
R4 = 30 µm

Three-Bit Vc1–3
Varactor
Bank

Diff. Port
Vtune Layout of NMOS Switched
Differential Inductors
OUT– OUT+

Mc1 Mc2

Figure 4. The schematic of the IS LC oscillator with three shunt switches and its inductor realization in [13]. Diff.: differential.
(Source: Taken from [13].)

April 2023 67
 TR covering from 9.9 to 20.3 GHz and a moderate
phase noise ranging from −103 to −84 dBc/Hz with
5.2–7.1 mW of power consumption [15]. Although
the bridge circuit theoretically could alleviate the
Q degradation from the switches, the realization of
the bridge inductor in this design does not reduce
the phase noise because it employs multistacked
metal layers.
In summary, the IS technique provides an effec-
tive way to realize wideband LC oscillators. However,
the phase noise of the oscillator is affected by the series
switches in the inductive path. Although some methods
have been proposed to alleviate this effect, they are still
not highly effective; thus, further investigation to explore
this technique is necessary.
TLS
Like IS, TLS applied in LC oscillators is also uti-
lized to tune the effective inductance in the LC tank.
However, compared to IS, TLS seems more appeal-
ing in mm-wave applications due to its higher flex-
i bility in layout i mplement at ion. As show n i n
Figure 6, TLS can be categorized into three main
types: namely, series loaded switching [16], [17],
[18]; parallel loaded switching [19], [20], [21], [22],
[23], [24]: and two-port loaded switching [25], [26],

Switch at Symmetric Direct

M1 VDD = 1.2 V
Position 20
Mode 5
L11, L12
L21, L22

Output Frequency (GHz)

Mode 4
15 10~20 GHz
(LC-VCO) Mode 3
Mode 2
Mode 1
10
5~10 GHz
VIA
(Divider)
B A
5
1/2
Large C
Small C

SW1 SW2 SW3 SW4 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2

VCNT(V)
(b)

–80
VDD
Mode 4
Vref
Mode 5
–90 Mode 2
Mode 4
Phase Noise (dBc/Hz)

Mode 5
Mode 3
Q′ Q Mode 2
–100 Mode 3
VCNT(Fine)
Mode 1 VDD = 1.2 V

VCNT Offset =1 MHz

(Coarse) –110 Mode 1

1/2 Divider LC-VCO Core

–120
4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Oscillation Frequency (GHz)
(a) (c)

Figure 5. (a) The schematic of an LC oscillator using multiple unbalanced switches in the bridge circuit and the realization
of the bridge inductor in [15], (b) the measured frequency TR, and (c) the measured phase noise. VIA: Via; VCNT: V_control.
(Source: Taken from [15].)

68 April 2023
[27], [28]. In the following, these three methods will
be discussed in detail.
Series Loaded Switching
As shown in Figure 6(a), series loaded switching con-
tains two coils, the primary coil and the secondary coil,
where the secondary coil is divided into various series
segments, and each is connected by switches. By turn-
ing on different switches or their combinations, the
loading of the transformer changes, leading to variable
equivalent inductances from the primary coil.
Assuming the transformer to be ideal with a coupling
coefficient of k and the secondary coil to be simplified
as N = 1, the equivalent inductance (L eq) and resistance
(R eq) can be calculated as (7) and (8), where R represents
the equivalent resistance of the transistor SW, and C
refers to its parasitic capacitance in parallel with R [17].
L eq =
R 2 61 - ~ 2 CL 2 ^1 - k 2 h@ + ~ 2 L 22 ^1 - k 2h
2 2
also reported in this work. The measured frequency
TR is from 57 to 65.5 GHz, and the phase noise varies
from −105.9 to −110.8 dBc/Hz at a 10-MHz offset under
a power consumption of 6 mW [17].
Parallel Loaded Switching
Parallel loaded switching achieves multiband opera-
tion by replacing the secondary coil of the transformer
with several parallel secondary coils, as shown in Fig-
ure 6(b). Regardless of whether these coils are loaded
with switches, variable capacitors, or variable resistors,
the equivalent inductances from the primary coil can
be tuned. Multiple switches were employed to load the
parallel coils in [20], [21], [22], and variable capacitors
were applied in [19], [23].
Since the switch loaded transformer has been ana-
lyzed in (6)–(8), the variable resistor loaded design is
analyzed here. As shown in Figure 6(b), assuming one
ideal transformer with a single-turn secondary coil
(N = 1) and a variable resistor (R v) loaded in the sec-

R ^1 - ~ CL 2h61 - ~ CL 2 ^1 - k h@ + ~ L 2 ^1 - k 2h
L1 # 2 2 2 2 2 2
ondary coil with parasitic capacitance (C v), the equiva-
(7) lent inductance (L eq) and resistance (R eq) can then be
R 2 L 1 61 - ~ 2 CL 2 ^1 - k 2 h@ + ~ 2 L 1 L 22 ^1 - k 2 h derived as (11) and (12), where both are functions of R v
2 2
R eq = . (8)
Rk 2 L 2 and C v [24].

R 2v L 1 61 - ~ 2 C v L 2 ^1 - k 2h@ + ~ 2 L 1 L 22 ^1 - k 2h
2 2
When the switch is turned on (R " 0), L eq is simpli-
R 1 - ~ C v L 2h61 - ~ C v L 2 ^1 - k h@ + ~ L 2 ^1 - k 2h
L eq =
v^
2 2 2 2 2 2
fied as (9), reaching its minimum inductance (L eq_min).
When the switch is turned off, it is acquired as (10), (11)
approaching the maximum inductance (L eq_max). R 2v L 1 61 - ~ 2 C v L 2 ^1 - k 2 h@ + ~ 2 L 1 L 22 ^1 - k 2 h
2 2
R eq = . (12)
R 2v k 2 L 2
L eq_min = L 1 ^1 - k 2 h (9)
1 - ~ CL 2 ^1 - k h
2 2 As described in (11), if ~ 2 C v L 2 1 1, L eq increases
L eq_max = L 1 # . (10) with the increment of R v, and the maximum L eq is cal-
1 - ~ 2 CL 2
culated as (13).
Several LC oscillators have been designed by employ-
L eq_max = L eq ^R v " 3h = L 1 c 1 + k 2 m.
2
ing this series loaded switching technique [16], [17], [18]. ~ L2 Cv
(13)
Figure 7(a) gives a circuit schematic of an LC oscillator 1 - ~2 L2 Cv
using this technique. To realize multiple subbands, six
switches are loaded symmetrically at different loca- Conversely, the minimum L eq is simplified as (14).
tions on the secondary coil. An oscillator designed
with asymmetrical locations of the series switches is L eq_min = L eq ^R v " 0 h = L 1 ^1 - k 2 h. (14)

SW1
L2
A
A
SW2 K M1P M2P
L3 L2 L3 LN
L1 Either M1P/N
L1 ••• L1 L2 Cv
or M2P/N
M1N M2N
B
B
SWN
LN

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 6. TLS: (a) series loaded switching, (b) parallel loaded switching, and (c) two-port loaded switching. SWN: the Nth switch.

April 2023 69
 In practice, there is no clear boundary for series
and parallel loaded switching when N = 1 in the
secondary coil. A wideband LC oscillator using
switches and a variable resistor loaded transformer
was designed in [24]. Its circuit schematic, the mea-
sured frequency TR, and the measured phase noise
are shown in Figure 8(a)–(c), respectively. It achieves
S3P
S2P
S1P
64 frequency bands from 52.2 to 61.3 GHz with
the loaded switch arrays providing coarse tuning
through V b1-V b6 and the variable resistor providing
fine tuning through Vfine . The capacitive elements
are all loaded in the secondary coil. Thus, the uni-
formity of this oscillator is improved, and the K VCO
(720 MHz/V at band 8) is reduced by a factor of 10 com-
pared to that of a conventional oscillator. The measured
phase noise ranges from −94 to −118.75 dBc/Hz at a
10-MHz offset with an average power consumption
V DD S3N
of 8.7 mW for the voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO)
core [24].
S2N An LC oscillator with the classical parallel switch
loaded TLS technique is shown in Figure 9. The trans-
former is composed of one primary coil and two
S1N

Vtune K

Vtune

Vb 1

Vb 6
(a)

(a) 64
Oscillating Frequency (GHz)

66 62
Frequency (GHz)

64 60
62
60 58
58 V DD = 0.4 V
56 V DD = 0.5 V
56 V DD = 0.6 V
0 0.4 0.8 1.2 54 V DD = 0.7 V
Vtune(V) V DD = 0.8 V
V DD = 0.9 V
52
Mode 0 Mode 1 Mode 2
Mode 3 Mode 4 Mode 5
–0.3 0 0.3 0.6 0.9 1.2
(b) Tuning Voltage (V)
(at 10-MHz Offset)(dBc/Hz)

(b)
Phase Noise at 10-MHz Offset (dBc/Hz)

–100
Mean Phase Noise –105.9 dBc/Hz –65
Phase Noise

–108.3 dBc/Hz
–70
2.5-dB Variation

–105
–75
–80
–110 –85
–110.8 dBc/Hz –90
–115 –95
–100
0

5
e

e
od

od

od

od

od

od

–105
M

Band Selection –110

Multiband Operation
–115
VC = 0 V VC = 1.2 V –120 Single-Band Operation
–125
(c) 52 54 56 58 60 62
Oscillating Frequency (GHz)
Figure 7. (a) The schematic of the LC oscillator with series (c)
loaded TLS technique in [17], (b) the measured frequency
TR, and (c) the measured phase noise. S1P: Switch_1_P; Figure 8. (a) The schematic of the LC oscillator with switch
S2P: Switch_2_P; S3P: Switch_3_P; S1N: Switch_1_N; and variable resistor loaded TLS technique in [24], (b) the
S2N: Switch_2_N; S3N: Switch_3_N. (Source: Taken measured frequency TR, and (c) the measured phase noise
from [17].) (Source: Taken from [24].)

70 April 2023
secondary coils. By turning on different loaded switches structures, the LC oscillator can operate at two bands,
in the secondary coils, this oscillator can work with three thus increasing its frequency TR.
frequency bands with a frequency TR of 14%, as shown Figure 10 shows the circuit schematic of the trans-
in Figure 9(b), ranging from 49.23 to 56.62 GHz. The former-based two-port loading LC oscillator proposed
measured phase noise varies from −87.5 to −93.7 dBc/Hz in [27]. It oscillates in the high band when the switch is
at a 1-MHz offset under an average power consumption turned on, while it operates in the low band when the
of 7.2 mW [21]. switch is turned off. A frequency TR of 22.3%, ranging
from 62.1 to 78.3 GHz, was achieved in this design with
Two-Port Loaded Switching the phase noise measured from −84.5 to −90.9 dBc/Hz
Two-port loaded switching is realized with the load- at 1 MHz and from −105.8 to −112 dBc/Hz at 10 MHz, as
ing at the secondary coil of the transformer inversely shown in Figure 10(b) and (c). There are other methods
connected back to the primary coil, thus generating the to realize two-port loading, such as the oscillator in
so-called two-port loading effect for the primary coil. [26], which is operated by exploiting a one-port scheme
As displayed in Figure 6(c), there are two main types in the low band while employing a two-port scheme in
of two-port loading methods that have been proposed the high band.
in [25], [26], [27]. Using either M 1P/N or M 2P/N, the load- In summary, these three methods for TLS can all
ings are both inversely connected back from the sec- extend the frequency TR of LC oscillators. Although
ondary coil to the primary coil. By incorporating these the switches are not directly added in the main tank

DCI SW1:Off, SW 2:Off

Lc1 56 SW1:On, SW2:Off
Oscillating Frequency (GHz)
68.68 µm

SW1:On, SW2:On
2 µm

SW1 54
L1 SW2

GND Lc2 52
7 µm
4 µm
2.1 µm
68.68 µm
50

VDD 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2

VCTRL (V)
(b)
M1 M2 –80
SW1:Off, SW 2:Off
SW1:On, SW2:Off
–85 SW1:On, SW2:On
Phase Noise (dBc/Hz)

DCI
OUT_P OUT_N
CV CV
–90

VCTRL
–95
M3 M4

–100
49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57
Frequency (GHz)
(a) (c)

Figure 9. (a) The schematic of the LC oscillator with parallel switch loaded TLS technique in [21] and its transformer
realization, (b) the measured frequency TR, and (c) the measured phase noise. DCI: digital control inductor. (Source: Taken
from [21].)

April 2023 71
There are indeed some designs that
have combined several individual
oscillators into a combined
MS oscillator.
path, the series resistance from the switches still feeds
back to the primary coil through the magnetic cou-
pling, thus degrading the tank Q and the phase noise.
In addition, multiple coil coupling introduces design
complexity for the transformers, especially in low-fre-
quency applications. Thus, TLS is more appealing in
high-frequency applications, such as mm-wave.
MS
A straightforward method to realize an LC oscillator
with a wide-frequency TR is to employ multiple oscil-
lators connected in parallel and commutate these oscil-
lators by alternately switching them. This is somewhat
like the architecture that was shown in Figure 1. There
are indeed some designs that have combined several
individual oscillators into a combined MS oscilla-
tor [29], [30]. Yet directly combining these oscillators
occupies a large chip area, and MS oscillators with a
compact chip size are much more favorable. By design-
ing the inductive elements into compressed structures,
such as overlapped eight-shaped inductors [31] and
multicore transformers [32], [33], [34], [35], [36], [37],
[38], [39], [40], [41], the oscillators can be condensed into
acceptably compact chip sizes while simultaneously
realizing a wide-frequency TR through MS.
Dual-Core Switching
A dual-core switching LC oscillator with hybrid
eight-shaped inductors was proposed in [31], and its
schematic is displayed in Figure 11(a). Although eight-
shaped inductors have moderate Qs, they are immune
to stray magnetic fields, and can mutually cancel the
self-generated magnetic fields that keep the Q of the
inductor unaffected by the adjacent coils. While some
coupling effect may survive that marginally impacts
the coils, this effect is much less than that of cou-
pled circular or rectangular inductors. As shown
in Figure 11(a), the two eight-shaped inductors are
overlapped with a smaller inductor inside a bigger
inductor. By employing two different metal layers, the
two inductors occupy no extra chip area other than
that of the larger inductor. When the two active cores
are switched on, this dual-core switching LC oscillator

M3
80
78
OP S1 76
M1
74
Frequency (GHz)

72
K 70
C1 68
L1 L2 C2
I2 66
I1
64
M2 62
ON S2 60
–0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Voltage (V)
M4
High Band Low Band
(a) (b)
–80 –100
Low Band
at 10 MHz (dBc/Hz)

High Band Low Band High Band

at 1 MHz (dBc/Hz)

–82.5 –102.5
Phase Noise

Phase Noise

–85 –105
–87.5 –107.5
–90 –110
–92.5 –112.5
–95 –115
60 62 64 66 68 70 72 74 76 78 80 60 62 64 66 68 70 72 74 76 78 80
Oscillation Frequency (GHz) Oscillation Frequency (GHz)
(c) (d)

Figure 10. (a) Schematic of the LC oscillator with two-port loaded switching TLS technique in [27], (b) the measured frequency
TR, and (c) the measured phase noise. Op: output_P; ON: output_N. (Source: Taken from [27].)

72 April 2023
can achieve a very wide-frequency TR in excess of the are utilized with three inductors placed in a con-
one-octave band. Figure 11(b) and (c) shows the mea- centric configuration.
sured frequency TR of 75% ranging from 2.4 to 5.3 GHz Since this oscillator targets the sub-6G working
and the measured phase noise ranging from −139 to band, the inductance of each inductor would be at
−149 dBc/Hz at a 10-MHz offset under a power con- least several hundred pH. Two-turn inductors are thus
sumption from 4.4 to 6 mW [31]. exploited, with the stacked metal layers in a small
chip area. As shown in Figure 12(b) and (c), by com-
Triple-Core Switching mutating these oscillators with the cross-coupled pairs
It is possible to further broaden the frequency TR of alternately turned on, this oscillator achieves three
an LC oscillator by combining more cores. Figure 12(a) continuous frequency bands with a measured fre-
shows a circuit schematic of an LC oscillator using quency TR of 128% ranging from 1.3 to 6 GHz and a
triple-core switching. Three inductors are coupled phase noise ranging from −112 to –120 at a 1-MHz offset
together as separate inductive elements for three LC under a power consumption of 4.35–9.15 mW over all
oscillators. To obtain multiband operation, the cou- frequency bands, a very competitive TR performance.
pling factors among the inductors must be kept small.
Vertical coupling inductors are thus not good options Combined Dual-Core and TLS
here because triple inductors may require the use of When the operating frequency goes up to the mm-
several bottom metal layers, leading to a Q degrada- wave, the combination of MS and TLS would be a good
tion of the inductor. In [32], planar coupling inductors method for the design of wideband LC oscillators [38],

Vdd Vdd

M1 M2 M3 M4

(a)

–80 PN at 5.3 GHz, IDC = 11 mA

5.5 HB VCO PN at 3.4 GHz, IDC = 15 mA
–90
Oscillation Frequency (GHz)

HB VCO (3.36–5.3 GHz) PN at 3.6GHz, IDC = 11 mA

5
Phase Noise (dBc/Hz)

LB VCO (2.4–3.61GHz) –100 PN at 2.4GHz, IDC = 15 mA

LB VCO
4.5
–110
4
≈ 200-MHz Overlap –120
3.5 –130
3 –140
2.5 VDD = 0.4 V –150 VDD = 0.4 V, FOM ≈ 187/189 dBc/Hz

2 –160
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0.1 1 10
Coarse Tuning Word <4:0> Frequency Offset (MHz)
(b) (c)

Figure 11. (a) The schematic of the LC oscillator with dual-core switching in [31], (b) the measured frequency TR, and (c) the
measured phase noise. (Source: Taken from [31].) FOM: figure of merit; HB: high band; LB: low band; PN: phase noise.

April 2023 73
MRS can work based on either the coupled inductors, a small frequency discontinuity
appears from 76.2 to 78.5 GHz between modes 4 and 5,
switched inductance or switched which can be alleviated by adjusting the coupling factors
capacitance in even and odd modes to shift up the frequency of mode 4.
of the LC resonators. Therefore, the MS technique directly realizes the
extension of the TR by switching the active cores. Unlike
other techniques, no extra switches introduce other par-
[39], [40], [41]. Figure 13(a) gives a circuit schematic of asitics; thus, there is no extra TR loss introduced by this
an LC oscillator using the combined dual-core switching technique. From the referenced works, it appears that
and transformer parallel loaded switching techniques. As the MS technique could approach the ideal frequency
is clear from the figure, five single-turn inductors are pla- TR by using multiple single-core LC oscillators.
narly coupled together with two coils directly connected
to the drain terminals of the cross-coupled transistors as MRS
the primary coils and the other three coils loaded with MRS takes advantage of the switched inductance or
parallel switches as secondary coil loadings. Coarse tun- capacitance between even and odd modes in the LC res-
ing is obtained by either of two active cores; midrange onators, extending more resonant modes for LC oscil-
tuning is realized through the loaded switches; and fine lators. It is a very promising technique for designing
tuning is acquired by the variable capacitor array. The wideband LC oscillators while simultaneously obtain-
combination of MS and TLS techniques generates six fre- ing low phase noise. Unlike the aforementioned three
quency modes for the LC oscillator. techniques, which have no obvious beneficial effect on
Figure 13(b) and (c) shows the measured frequency TR the phase noise, MRS could realize a wide-frequency
ranging from 57.5 to 90.1 GHz with a frequency TR of 41.1% TR while at the same time improving the phase noise
and a phase noise ranging from −112 to −104.5 dBc/Hz at performance through its multicore configuration. To
a 10-MHz offset [39]. Because of inaccurate modeling of realize even and odd modes in LC resonators, the LC

VDD VDD
VDD

(a)

8.2 –108
Current Consumption (mA)

(dBc/Hz) @ 1 MHz Offset

7.2 –112
–116
Phase Noise

6.2
5.2 –120

4.2 –124

3.2 –128

2.2 –132
1.1 2.1 3.1 4.1 5.1 6.1 1.1 2.1 3.1 4.1 5.1 6.1
Oscillation Frequency (GHz) Oscillation Frequency (GHz)
Mode 1 Mode 1 Measurement Mode 1 Simulation
Mode 2 Mode 2 Measurement Mode 2 Simulation
Mode 3 Mode 3 Measurement Mode 3 Simulation
(b) (c)

Figure 12. (a) The schematic of the LC oscillator with triple-core switching in [32], (b) the measured frequency TR, and
(c) the measured phase noise. (Source: Taken from [32].)

74 April 2023
oscillator normally has to work with at least two simul-
taneously active cores, which naturally decreases the
phase noise of the oscillator by 3 dB.
To realize MRS, almost all LC oscillators employ
inductor-based or transformer-based LC resonators
[41], [42], [43], [44], [45], [46], [47], [48], [49], [50], [51], [52],
[53], [54], [55], [56]. Figure 14(a) displays a schematic
view of an LC resonator with symmetrical inductors
and capacitors seen from Z 11 and Z 22, while Figure 14(b)
depicts another transformer-based symmetrical LC
resonator with one additional capacitor (C C) coupled
between the two sides of the transformer.
In even mode, the voltages across the two loops
(A " C and B " D) are in phase (blue line in Figure
14); thus, VAC = VBD . The centric inductor (L CM) sees a
differential voltage at its two terminals, which makes
its inductance count as part of the total inductance.
Hence, the resonator can be simplified into two shunt
LC tanks with L = 2 (L1 + L CM) and C = C 1 . The reso-
nant frequency is easily found as (15).

~ even =
1 . (15)
2^L 1 + L MhC 1

In odd mode, the voltages in the two LC tanks are

out of phase (red line in Figure 14), VAC = - VBD . The
Cv1 Cv1 Cv1 Vc Cv1
Vc two terminals of L CM are virtually grounded; they can-
not be seen from Z 11 and Z 22 . The equivalent induc-
Cv2 B1B0 Cv2 Cv2 B1B0 Cv2
tance and capacitance from Z 11 and Z 22 are thus equal
to L = 2 L 1 and C = C 1, with the resonant frequency
M1 M2 M3 M4 represented as (16).

~ odd =
1 . (16)
2L 1 C 1
(a)
Without considering C C, the transformer-based
90
resonator in Figure 14(b) could be made equivalent
85
to Figure 14(a) by equating the transformer into a
Frequency (GHz)

80 T-shaped circuit model. As a comparison, Figure 14(b)

75
70
65 L1 L1

60 A B

55
Z11 C1 LCM C1
50 Z22
0 0.6 1.2 1.8
Varactor Tuning Voltage (V) C D
Mode 1 Mode 2 Mode 3 L1 L1
Mode 4 Mode 5 Mode 6 (a)
(b)
Phase Noise (dBc/Hz)

Cc
–102
–104
–106 A B
–108 M
–110
–112 Z11 C2 L2 L2 C2
–114 Z22
55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90
Frequency (GHz) C D
Mode 1 Mode 2 Mode 3
Mode 4 Mode 5 Mode 6
Cc
(c)
(b)
Figure 13. (a) The schematic of the LC oscillator with
combined dual-core and TLS in [39], (b) the measured Figure 14. Multimode resonance realized by (a) the
frequency TR, and (c)the measured phase noise. (Source: inductor-based LC resonator and (b) the transformer-based
Taken from [39].) LC resonator.

April 2023 75
 introduces an extra coupled C C that produces addi-
tional equivalent capacitances between the even and
odd modes. The calculated resonant frequencies in
even and odd modes are respectively given as (17) and
(18) for Figure 14(b).
~ even =
1 (17)
^L 2 + MhC 2
~ odd =
1 .
^L 2 - M h (C 2 + C C)
MRS can work based on either switched induc-
tance or switched capacitance in even and odd modes
of the LC resonators. Thus, many of the LC oscillators
reported have incorporated these two elements into
their designs to realize wideband frequency TR and
low phase noise simultaneously.
Switched Inductance/
Capacitance-Based MRS
Switched inductance- or capacitance-based MRS tech-
niques have been widely used in a variety of LC oscil-
lators to realize both wide TR and low phase noise [41],
[42], [43], [44], [45]. Figure 15(a) shows a circuit schematic
of a dual-mode LC oscillator simply using switched
inductance. As shown in the layout sketch in Figure 15(a),
the two inductor coils correspond to L 1 in Figure 14(a),
while the long horizontal line refers to L CM . By adopting
a switch array to control the phases of the signals at four
ports, this oscillator can operate in two frequency bands
covering from 14.8 to 18.7 GHz and from 20.8 to 26.6 GHz,
as shown in Figure 15(b). There appears to be a frequency
(18)
discontinuity between the two bands; this can be modi-
fied by adjusting the parameters or patterns of the induc-
tors based on (14) and (15). The measured phase noise
of this oscillator is shown in Figure 15(c), where it dem-
onstrates that the oscillator obtains an optimum phase
noise of −115.1 dBc/Hz at a 2-MHz offset while consum-
ing only 4.8 mW of dc power, demonstrating simultane-
ous low phase noise and low power consumption [43].
There are also some other oscillators that merely exploit
the switched capacitance, such as [42].
Switched Inductance and Capacitance
Combined MRS
As mentioned earlier, the inductance and capacitance
can both be switched between the even and odd modes

LDM LDM
Vout1+ Vout2+ M
M1 2

SW Vin
C1

+ +
– –
C2

Vin
M2 M1
Vout1– Vout2–
LDM LDM

(a)
28 9 –80
Measured Frequency L = Leven L = Lodd
26 Simulated Frequency 8 –90
Power Consumption (mw)

Measured Pdc 2 MHz

Phase Noise (dBc/Hz)

24 Simulated Pdc 7 10 MHz

Frequency (GHz)

–100
22 6

20 5 –110

18 4 –120

16 3
L = Leven L = Lodd –130
14 2
0 10 20 30 10 20 30 0 10 20 30 10 20 30
Control Code Control Code
(b) (c)

Figure 15. (a) The schematic of the dual-mode resonant LC oscillator with switched inductance-based MRS in [43] and the
inductor realization, (b) the measured frequency TR, and (c) the measured phase noise. LDM: L in differential mode; PDC: power
of DC. (Source: Taken from [43].)

76 April 2023
of the LC resonator, indicating that each corresponds to cross-coupled capacitors producing the switched capac-
two resonant modes. By combining these modes, it is itance through electric coupling. A switch array at the
possible to realize quad-mode resonance for LC oscil- center is employed to clamp the quad-core with spe-
lators. In fact, an LC oscillator that subtly combines cific phases corresponding to the required even and
the switched inductance and the switched capacitance odd modes. The measured frequency TR and phase
between the even and odd modes of the LC resona- noise are shown in Figure 16(b) and (c), with a 73.2%
tor has been proposed to achieve four reconfigurable frequency TR from 18.6 to 40.1 GHz and an optimum
resonant modes in [54]. As shown in Figure 16(a), the phase noise of −108.5 dBc/Hz at a 1-MHz offset, respec-
four reconfigurable resonant modes are realized with tively [54]. The quad-mode and quad-core configuration
two symmetrical transformers forming the switched of this oscillator achieves simultaneous wideband fre-
inductance through magnetic coupling and several quency coverage and low phase noise.

M-Coupling

–Gm –Gm
E-Coupling

E-Coupling
2D C C
Switch Cm Cm Cm Cm
Array
C C
–Gm –Gm

M-Coupling

(a)

41 –60
at 100 kHz at 1 MHz at 10 MHz
Phase Noise (dBc/Hz)

35 –80
Frequency (GHz)

29 –100

23 –120

17 –140
0 1.1 2.2 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Control Voltage (V) Frequency (GHz)
(b) (c)

Figure 16. (a) The schematic of quad-mode resonant LC oscillator with switched inductance and capacitance combined MRS in
[54] and the transformer realization, (b) the measured frequency TR, and (c) the measured phase noise. (Source: Taken from [54].)

April 2023 77
 Combined MRS and Other Techniques
The improvement in resonant modes for MRS LC oscil-
lators is often limited by the parasitics of the mode selec-
tion or tuning circuits due to the increased complexity
of the switch array and other tuning circuits. To address
this challenge, one approach is to combine the MRS with
other techniques, such as TLS, to alleviate the parasitic
contribution from the mode selection circuits. An LC
oscillator with combined MRS and TLS techniques was
proposed in [55]. As shown in Figure 17(a), the oscilla-
tor introduces an additional tertiary magnetic coupling
loop as the transformer-switching loading to extend

SE
n:1 LF LG
LG LD SO
– + + –
+ – – + VDD VDD
SO LD
SE LS
LC
2CC
LC i1 i2

(a) (b)
Offset: 100 k, 1 M, 10 M
–80
18
Odd Mode –90

Phase Noise (dBc/Hz)

16
Even Mode –100
Frequency (GHz)

14 MSB OFF –110

Even Mode
12 MSB ON –120
10 –130
8 –140

6 –150
0 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44 6 8 10 12 14 16
Frequency Control Word Frequency (GHz)
(c) (d)

Figure 17. (a) The schematic of the triple-mode LC oscillator with combined MRS and TLS techniques in [55], (b) the layout
implementation, (c) the measured frequency TR, and (d) the measured phase noise. 100k, 100,000; 1 M, 1 million; 10 M:
10 million. (Source: Taken from [55].)

1.48 mm
0.9 mm

Oscillator Output
Core Buffer
Core Area
0.39 mm2
GND

GND

Decoder
470 µ m

VDD
VDD

170 µm
Decoupling Decoupling
Capacitors Capacitors
G S S G
(a) (b)

Figure 18. Microphotographs of (a) the quad-mode LC oscillator in [54] and (b) the triple-mode LC oscillator in [55]. (Source:
Taken from [54] and [55].)

78 April 2023
more resonant modes. The transformer switching

130-nm CMOS

130-nm CMOS

22-nm FD-SOI
Process (nm)

40-nm CMOS
90-nm CMOS

90-nm CMOS
65-nm CMOS
65-nm CMOS

65-nm CMOS
65-nm CMOS

65-nm CMOS
65-nm CMOS
incurs negligible switch loss and Q degradation for the
oscillator. Further, as shown in Figure 17(b), the induc-
tor coils in the main LC tanks and the tertiary coil are all
packed together as a multicoupling transformer struc-
ture, which saves a large amount of chip size. Based on
the even and odd switching modes from MRS and the

(mm2)

0.003

0.047
0.295
0.031

0.012
0.168
additionally introduced resonant mode from the TLS,

Area

0.08
0.87

0.02

0.03

0.39
0.1
this oscillator achieves three continuous frequency
bands from 8 to 17 GHz with a frequency TR of 72%,
as shown in Figure 17(c). The measured phase noise

−187.6/187.2
is shown in Figure 17(d), demonstrating a phase noise

−184.3
−180.4
−179.3
−176.2
from −119.1 to −112.3 dBc/Hz at a 1-MHz offset [55].

184.4
191.6
−180
−189
FOM
To sum up, the MRS technique outperforms other

—
—

—
approaches for simultaneously achieving wide-fre-
quency TR and low phase noise. However, it employs

V DD (V)
multiple active cores to realize the phase noise reduc-

0.45
0.4
0.7
1.2

1.2
1.5
1.6

1.1
—
tion, which accordingly consumes more dc power

1
1

1
compared to other techniques. The oscillators using
the MRS technique thus work with at least two cores.

8.4–10.8
6.5–15.4

4.3–9.1
5.2–7.1
Figure 18 demonstrates the microphotographs of the
Power

17–33
4.4–6
(mW)

9–15
quad-mode LC oscillator in [54] and the triple-mode

4.8
8.7
7.2

7.7
6
LC oscillator in [55].
TABLE 1. The performance comparison of LC oscillators with multimode switching techniques.

Comparative Analysis

−122.2 to −104.5

−130.3 to −122.7
−110.8 to −105.9

−143.1 to −134.7
−118.75 to −94
The primary techniques for realizing multimode

−149 to −139
−112 to −106
PN@10 MHz

−130/−125
switching in microwave LC oscillators have been
(dBc/Hz)

described (i.e., IS, TLS, MS, and MRS). The discus-

–108.4

sion primarily focused on the realization of wide-

—
—

—
frequency coverage, but there are several other
characteristics of LC oscillators that are not discussed

−108.5 to −100.3
−119.1 to −112.3
in detail due to space limitations.
−122 to −117.2

−120 to −112

−108/−106.6
Thus, a comparative analysis of the state-of-the-
−103 to −84
PN@1 MHz

−93 to −87

−91 to −83

art is shown in Table 1. It can be seen from the table

(dBc/Hz)

that the TLS technique tends to be appealing in

−80

mm-wave applications with a compact chip size and

—

that the MRS technique obtains superior phase noise

at a cost of consuming higher dc power through its Freq.: frequency; FOM: figure of merit; FD-SOI: fully depleted silicon on insulator.
23.3/24.4

multicore configuration. As presented, the oscillators

TR (%)

16.07
22.3
68.9

73.2

using TLS techniques mainly focus on the applicable

13.9
87.2

41.1
128

72
75
14

frequencies from 50 to 78 GHz, while the oscillators

employing MRS techniques achieve the optimal phase
Freq. (GHz)

noise of −119.1 dBc/Hz at 8 GHz at a 1-MHz offset [55].

14.8–18.7/
52.2.–61.3

20.8–26.6
49.2–56.6

18.6–40.1
62.1−78.3

57.5–90.1
9.9–20.3
57–65.5

In addition, all of these techniques utilize inductor or

3.3–8.4

2.4–5.3
1.3–6

8–17

transformer-based structures to help introduce addi-

tional resonant modes. However, other structures
may be able to realize the same frequency TR exten-
Technique

sion. Passive capacitive structures with discontinued

capacitances and microwave multimode resonators
MRS

MRS
MRS
TLS
TLS
TLS
TLS

all have the potential to realize multimode switching

MS
MS
MS
IS
IS

in microwave LC oscillators.
Reference

Conclusion
A comprehensive review of multimode switch-
[54]
[27]

[39]
[43]

[55]
[32]
[24]

[31]
[17]
[21]
[15]
[11]

ing techniques for microwave LC oscillators was

April 2023 79
Due to the specific realization of the
passive elements, each technique
may be suitable for applications in
different frequency bands.
presented in this article. Four types of multimode
switching techniques (i.e., IS, TLS, MS, and MRS) were
discussed. For each technique, the basic concept; design
equations; schematics; layout; measured performance;
and advantages and disadvantages were elucidated in
detail. Due to the specific realization of the passive ele-
ments, each technique may be suitable for applications
in different frequency bands. Among the techniques
discussed, IS and TLS may have adverse effects on the
phase noise of LC oscillators due to the switch-on resis-
tance or loading; MS has no obvious effect on the phase
noise compared to its other counterparts, while MRS
can optimize the phase noise via its multicore configu-
ration but at the cost of higher dc power consumption.
A comparative analysis of the presented designs is also
shown to help readers better understand more charac-
teristics of the microwave LC oscillators using the pre-
sented techniques.
Acknowledgment
This work was supported in part by the Fundamen-
tal Research Funds for the Central Universities under
Grant 2022ZYGXZR0076; in part by the Key-Area
Research and Development Program of Guangdong
Province under Grant 2018B010115001; in part by the
National Key Research and Development Program of
China under Grant 2018YFB1802000; and in part by the
Guangdong Innovative and Entrepreneurial Research
Team Program under Grant 2017ZT07X032. The corre-
sponding author of this article is Wenquan Che.
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81
The Rich History of Women in Tech
■ Sherry Hess

M
y Ja nu a r y “ Wome n i n
Microwaves” (WIM) col-
umn, “IEEE MTT-S MGA
WIM Subcommittee: Who We Are
and What We Do,” [1] introduced the
amazing women serving on the WIM
Subcommittee and talked about our
goal of building a network of women
in microwaves that attracts, scales,
and connects and how we are working
to achieve that goal. I mentioned two
promotional videos inspired by Prof.
Rhonda Franklin, chair of the WIM
IMS2021 virtual event.
In this article, I’ll tell you more
about these videos, which are a
must view! The first one, “History
of Women in Tech/MTT-S” (https://
vimeo.com/matternow/download/
718057869/eeeb58a78e), shines a light
on our rich history of women in engi- WIM space are inspired to follow as the U.S. Department of Commerce
neering and tells the stories of great we continue to push science and in- in 1973. She invented a gigacycle/
women engineers making meaning- dustry forward. gigahertz range signal generator
ful contributions beginning in the The great and diverse women en- using semiconductor material in
mid-1920s. These women forged paths gineers showcased in the video in- magnetic and electric fields.
that we modern engineers within the clude both early women engineers and
women engineers continuing the tra-
Sherry Hess (sherry.hess.us@ieee.org), an
dition of excellence today.
IEEE MTT-S Women in Microwaves committee • Betsy Ancker-Johnson: An Ameri-
member, is with Cadence Design Systems, can physicist, she was the first
San Jose, CA 95134 USA. woman vice president in the au-
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MMM.2022.3233490
tomotive industry and the first
Date of current version: 10 March 2023 woman presidential appointee to

82 April 2023
 • Kawthar Zaki: An Egyptian-Amer-
ican electrical engineer, she is
the first female IEEE Microwave
Theory and Technology Society
(MTT-S) member to become a Fel-
low; first woman Ph.D. in electri-
cal engineering at the University
of California Berkeley; and first
woman professor in the College
of Engineering at the University
of Maryland.
• Beatrice Alice Hicks: An American
engineer, she invented a gas den-
sity switch that was used in the
U.S. space program, including the
Apollo moon landing mission,
and was both a cofounder and
the first president of the Society
of Women Engineers.
• Hedy Lamarr: An Austrian-Amer-
ican film actress, she had no
formal training in engineering,
but she taught herself, and in
1941, she co-invented the Secret
Communications System, which
is still used today for secure
com mu n icat ions. She holds a
patent for the frequency hopping
April 2023
technique used to manipulate RF
frequencies at irregular intervals
that was jam proof.
• Zoya Popovic: A Serbian-Amer-
ican microwave engineer and
IEEE Fellow, she has received
numerous awards for her re-
search and educational activities
and is a Distinguished Professor
in the Department of Electrical,
Computer, and Energy Engineer-
ing at the University of Colorado,
Boulder. She has won the IEEE
Microwave Prize twice.
• Linda Katehi: A Greek-American
engineer, she holds 19 patents
and is the first female chancellor
at the University of California,
Davis. Previously, she was the
O’Donnell Foundation Chair in
Engineering at Texas A&M and
was elected to the National Acad-
emy of Engineering for her con-
tributions to 3D IC and on-wafer
packaging design as well as to
engineering education.
• Dominique Schreurs: A Belgian
electrical engineer who is a full
p r o f e s s o r at K U L e u ve n i n
B e l gium, she has served on the
MTT-S AdCom committee since
2009 and is heavily involved in
WIM. She is the editor-in-chief of
IEEE MTT Transactions and a Dis-
tinguished Microwave Lecturer,
and she became the first female
MTT-S president in 2019.
• Rashaunda Henderson: An electri-
cal engineer investigating novel
passive components and integra-
tion techniques for millimeter-
wave circuits and systems, she is
the second woman to be elected as
MTT-S president and first female
president of color. She is a profes-
sor of electrical engineering at the
University of Texas, Dallas.
The second video, “WIM Sizzle”
( ht t ps://v i me o.com/m at ter now/
download/740068903/ef776f884a),
highlights that although few in
numbers, women engineers through-
out history have made huge contri-
butions to our “high-tech” industry.
Engineering has evolved and become
more welcoming to women as the in-
dustry comes to understand that there
is strength in diversity and that it is key
to solving the most complex problems.
As I’ve said many times, we, the engi-
neers falling within the WIM umbrella,
and our male counterparts, too, need
to keep pushing, and we need to sup-
port each other; share our knowledge
and experiences; and guide and mentor
those coming through the ranks.
Reference
[1] S. Hess, “MTT-S MGA WIM subcommit-
tee: Who we are and what we do! [Women
in Microwaves],” IEEE Microw. Mag., vol.
24, no. 1, pp. 74–76, Jan. 2023, doi: 10.1109/
MMM.2022.3211602.
83
The IMWS-AMP 2022 Postconference Report
■ Quan Xue, Wenquan Che, Haoshen Zhu, Wanchen Yang, Wenjie Feng ,
Shaowei Liao, Xiang Yi, and Pei Qin

T
he 2022 IEEE Microwave The-
ory and Tech nolog y Societ y
(MTT-S) International Micro-
wave Workshop Series on Advanced
Materials and Processes for RF and
THz Applications (IMWS-AMP 2022)
was successfully held in Guangzhou,
China, from 13 to 14 December 2022.
IMWS-AMP is an annual interna-
tional academic forum in the field
of electromagnetics and microwave
technology that has been successfully
held many times around the world (see
Figure 1). The conference was initi-
ated and successfully held in Suzhou,
China, in 2015. Since then, several
editions have been held successfully,
IMAGE LICENSED BY INGRAM PUBLISHING
including in Chengdu, China, in 2016;
Pavia, Italy, in 2017; Michigan, USA,
in 2018; Bochum, Germany, in 2019;
and Chongqing, China, in 2021. This
workshop not only provides an inter-
national academic exchange platform
for scholars and engineers in the field
of microwave technology but also a
good opportunity for young scholars
and students to show their innova-
tive achievements.
IMWS-AMP 2022 was organized by
South China University of Technology,
cosponsored by Shenzhen Key Labora-
tory of Electromagnetic Information
of South University of Science and

Quan Xue (eeqxue@scut.edu.cn), Wenquan

Che (eewqche@scut.edu.cn), Haoshen
Zhu (zhuhs@scut.edu.cn), Wanchen Yang
(wcyang@scut.edu.cn), Wenjie Feng
(fengwenjie1985@163.com), Shaowei
Liao (liaoshaowei@scut.edu.cn), Xiang
Yi (yixiang@scut.edu.cn), and Pei Qin
(qinpei7777@163.com) are with Guangdong
Provincial Key Laboratory
of Millimeter-Wave and Terahertz,
South China University of Technology,
Guangzhou 510006, China.

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MMM.2022.3233491

Date of current version: 10 March 2023 Figure 1. The introduction slide for IMWS-AMP 2022.

84 April 2023
Technology and Guangzhou Alumni
Association of University of Electronic
Science and Technology of China, and
funded and technically sponsored by
the MTT-S and the IEEE Guangzhou
Antennas/Microwaves Branch. Prof.
Quan Xue, dean of the School of
Electronics and Information/School
of Microelectronics of South China
University of Technology, served as
the general chair of the conference,
and Prof. Wenquan Che, School of
Electronics and Information, served
as chair of the Technical Program
Committee (TPC). Several other pro-
fessors performed as cochairs of other
committees of the conference. Due to
Figure 2. The opening ceremony of IMWS-AMP 2022.
April 2023
the continuous impact of the COVID-19
pandemic, only a small-size on-site
opening ceremony was organized at
the campus, while all the other attend-
ees participated in the workshop activi-
ties virtually. A large number of online
attendees, up to 525, took part in the
opening ceremony of IMWS-AMP 2022,
which was recorded (see Figure 2).
As the general chair of IMWS-AMP
2022, Xue delivered a welcome speech
at the opening ceremony, express-
ing a warm welcome to experts and
scholars from around the world and
hoping to promote cooperation and
exchanges between researchers and
research institutions through the
academic conference. Prof. Rashaunda
Henderson, president of the MTT-S in
2022, delivered a speech on behalf of
the MTT-S to all the attendees. Che,
on behalf of the TPC, introduced
information regarding the technical
issues of the conference. Later, three
famous experts in the microwave field
delivered the keynote speeches (see
Figure 3). Prof. Raafat Mansour from
the University of Waterloo, Canada,
introduced microwave and millime-
ter-wave (mm-wave) devices based
on phase-change materials and their
applications in future communica-
tion systems. Prof. Kai Kang from
the University of Electronic Science
85
and Technology of China introduced
the development history, status, and
latest research results of mm-wave
integrated circuits and phased-array
systems. Prof. Ming Yu from Southern
University of Science and Technology
presented the latest theoretical progress
in the design and synthesis of micro-
wave devices.
The topics involved in IMWS-AMP
2022 included microwave and tera-
hertz circuits and devices, antennas
and circuits based on new materials
and processes, microwave/mm-wave
chips, microwave circuits and systems,
advanced RF packaging technology,
advanced materials and processes,
and other frontier research directions

Figure 3. The keynote speakers of IMWS-AMP 2022.

Figure 4. The oral and poster sessions of IMWS-AMP 2022.

86 April 2023
Figure 5. The closing and award ceremonies of IMWS-AMP 2022.
in the electromagnetics field. The con-
ference received contributions from 12
countries and regions, including the
United Kingdom; the United States;
Canada; Singapore; Australia; Japan;
Hong Kong/Macao, SAR, China; and
mainland China. A total of 552 papers
(the largest number of papers in the
nine-year history of IMWS-AMP)
were accepted for presentations and
for possible publication in IEEE Xplore
(excluding the abstract papers). The
conference had 42 sessions, including
296 oral reports, 10 poster sessions, and
256 poster reports (see Figure 4). The
conference held a student paper con-
test and selected six Best Student Paper
April 2023
Awards and six Honorable Mention
Awards (see Figure 5). In addition, spon-
sored by the IEEE MTT-S Education
Committee, the Ph.D. Student Initiative
Program was launched at IMWS-AMP
2022. Forty-five early-stage Ph.D. stu-
dents from more than 20 universities
in China were selected to participate
in the program. They were allowed to
participate at all the conference events
without paying the registration fee
and also had opportunities to meet
senior professors in panel discussions.
Meanwhile, a Women in Microwaves
special session was also organized
alongside IMWS-AMP 2022, with more
than 60 attendees joining this event.
IMWS-AMP 2022 received strong sup-
port from Huawei Technology, Huizhou
Gaoshengda Technology, and Jiangsu
Jiangjia Electronics.
IMWS-AMP 2023 will be hosted
f rom 13 to 15 November 2023 i n
Chengdu, China, and is organized by
the University of Electronic Science
and Technology of China. The general
chair for IMWS-AMP 2023 is Prof. Yu
Jian Cheng.
Acknowledgment
Wenjie Feng is the corresponding
author.
87
Nano Versus Commercial
■ Nathan Hunt , Jonathan Scott , and Lee Streeter

T
h e Na noV NA (Na no), f i r st a refined and respected Keysight ENA, The Nano is thus only doing a full
introduced by that name in model E5061A. We address the ques- calibration on one port and a sim-
2019, is a handheld, battery- tion: “How much can be done with a ple calibration on the receiver-only
powered, microwave vector-corrected Nano, and what can’t you get without a port, assuming it represents a perfect
network analyzer (commonly just a full-cost VNA?” match. This is good for measuring S11
“VNA”) whose hardware and soft- and something close to true S21. This
ware are open-source [1]. A version 1.0 Design Differences will be noted in the “Measurements”
is surprisingly cheap, with a price tag The most fundamental difference section, where S11 measurements tend
of as little as US$50 as of 2021, and yet between the Nano and a “full two- to be more accurate than S21. If you
it can reach up to 1.5 GHz in frequency. port” commercial VNA is that the want to measure S 22 and S12, you
Preassembled units are available from Nano is really a “one- have to put the device
at least one supplier in each of a num- port ” VNA wit h a n under test (DUT) in
ber of places in Asia, Europe, and the extra receiver. Behind The most backwards. In general,
United States [1]. These machines are port 1 of both instru- fundamental unidirectional VNAs
already used for educational [2], [3], ments is a directional cover the majority of
amateur/ham radio [4], and applied component capable of
difference real-world, everyday
engineering [5], [6], [7], [8] purposes. separately sensing both between the usage. Nevertheless,
forward and reverse Nano and a as we will see later,
Introduction traveling waves. In the unidirectional VNAs
This article will compare a Nano to a case of most commer-
“full two-port” preclude the use of some
professional instrument. The profes- cial VNAs, there is a commercial of the rather more con-
sional instrument used in the article is directional coupler or VNA is that the venient calibration tech-
bridge, and the option niques, such as “unknown
of sourcing signal at all
Nano is really a thru” [9], [10] and “adapter
Nathan Hunt (nathan.hunt@millibeam. ports. In the case of the “one-port” VNA removal” [11].
com) is with Millibeam 2016, Sydney, NSW, Nano, the second port with an extra The commercial
Australia. Jonathan Scott (jonathanscott@
simply has a receiver, VNA we have chosen
ieee.org) is with the University of Waikato,
which is to say that it
receiver. reaches 3 GHz. Most
Hamilton 3240, New Zealand. Lee Streeter
(streeter@waikato.ac.nz) is with the School can sense magnitude “serious” VNAs start
of Engineering, University of Waikato, and phase of a signal on that port, but at this frequency, mostly because it is
Hamilton 3240, New Zealand. can neither source signal nor sense any a relatively easy frequency to reach.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MMM.2022.3233500 energy that might be reflected from the The frequency range covers the origi-
Date of current version: 10 March 2023 port because of imperfect match. nal 2.5-GHz Wi-Fi band, and it is

88 April 2023
cost-effective to do so. The Nano V2
that we will use here reaches 1.5 GHz,
and that with reduced dynamic range
because of the use of harmonics of the
source. There are versions of the Nano
that span up to at least 6 GHz; the inter-
ested reader can find links in [1]. Unless
otherwise stated, the Nano has been
calibrated with the supplied standards
and using its inbuilt firmware calibra-
tion. The Nano firmware allows the
user to alter the value of the resistance
of the load standard in its calibration kit.
This will be used in the next section.
Vector calibrations rely upon repeat-
ability of connectors. Commercial VNAs
similarly. The intermediate frequency
bandwidth is 1.3 KHz, averaging 16
samples per frequency point and 201
frequency points across the frequency
range. Before carrying out these com-
parative measurements, however, we
start by measuring the calibration
standards supplied with the Nano
1 200
0.8
0.6
0.4
using the E5061. This provides insight
into the baseline accuracy of the Nano.
Figures 1 and 2 present the results.
Of interest is the residual reflec-
tion of the load in Figure 2. S11 starts
at about –48 dB, rising to about –35 dB
at 1 GHz. The phase of the load’s
reflection allows the resistance of
150
100

Phase (Degrees)
t y pical ly use N-t y pe or 3.5 -m m
Magnitude (dB) 0.2
connectors. The Nano uses SMA con- 50
nectors, compatible with 3.5 mm but 0
lacking the precision, and potentially 0
–0.2
not rated for multiple reconnections.
–0.4 –50
This may be satisfactory, but it will
represent a source of error that will –0.6
–100
increase with continuous usage. The –0.8
user should be aware of this. We are
–1 –150
not going to address the problem of 0 0.5 1 1.5
wear and reliability here. Frequency (GHz)
It should also be noted that the
Nano Open Magnitude (S11)
E5061 was calibrated using an Arance Nano Short Magnitude (S11)
Electronics 6650F27-F calibration kit and Nano Open Phase Degree (S11)
the Nano only with its included calibra- Nano Short Phase Degree (S11)
tion kit. A problem due to availability is
that the 6650F27-F has only female SMA
Figure 1. The S11 of the calibration standards, short and open, supplied with the Nano,
calibration standards and the Nano only
measured using the E5061A calibrated with the 6650F27-F calibration kit.
male SMA calibration standards. This
leads to a slight difference in where the
calibration plane lies with respect to the
DUT, since an adapter was required on
–34 20
one or the other machine so that the
0
DUT could be properly connected. A –36
quality adapter was used, so this causes –20
–38
very small errors as may be seen in the –40
Phase (Degrees)
Magnitude (dB)

“Measurements” section, below. The –40 Nano Load

–60
Magnitude (S11)
extra adapter caused some conspicuous –42 Nano Load –80
effects, for example shifting frequency of Phase Degree (S11)
–100
resonance peaks of the DUT slightly due –44
to the extra electrical length. The adapter –120
–46
was mostly used with the E5061B, so its –140
results will contain these errors. –48 –160
–50 –180
Measurements 0 0.5 1 1.5
In this section we will present mea- Frequency (GHz)
surements of various common objects
made with the two VNAs. All measure- Figure 2. The S11 magnitude and phase of the Nano load calibration standard,
ments using both VNAs were set up measured using the E5061A calibrated with the 6650F27-F calibration kit.

April 2023 89
 the load to be calculated. The load is
0.5
≈50.4 Ω at low frequency, 1 MHz. Most
0 Nano users will only have a digital
multimeter (DMM) to measure the
Magnitude (dB) –0.5 load’s resistance. The dc value is also
50.4 Ω, meaning that a dc measure-
–1 ment is quite satisfactory. This value
can be entered into the Nano calibra-
–1.5 tion to improve accuracy.
The change with frequency visible
–2 Nano Rigid Cable (S11) in the magnitude in Figure 2 is likely
5061 Rigid Cable (S11)
to be a small series inductance. The
–2.5
0 0.5 1 1.5 phase is made up of a contribution
Frequency (GHz) from the inductance and the length of
the load from calibration plane to resis-
Figure 3. A comparison of S11 of a 1,050-mm length of rigid coaxial cable fitted with tive element, which could be unwound
male SMA connectors. The far end of the cable has been left unconnected. The E5061 was if the user were interested.
short-open-load (SOL)-calibrated with a 6650F27-F calibration kit, and the Nano was
calibrated with the supplied SOL standards of the default calibration kit.
Cable
A 50 Ω rigid coaxial cable (Jinayi,
TDR
0.1 RG402) was used as the initial DUT for
1.02 m
measurement comparisons. A coaxial
0.1
cable was measured because check-
0.1 ing cables is a common application, its
characteristic impedance is known, and
0.1 the result of the measurement is easy to
anticipate. It also illustrates the phase
0
shift in the signal due to line length.
0 The cable was coiled to minimize
excessive bending in between measure-
0
0m 0.2 m 0.3 m 0.5 m 0.7 m 0.9 m 1m 1.2 m ments. Either end of the cable was sol-
dered with male SMA connectors.
Figure 4. The TDR measurement using the NanoVNA of a 1,050-mm length of rigid
Consider the input reflection coef-
coaxial cable fitted with male SMA connectors. The far end of the cable has been left
unconnected (open). The Nano provides only a screen dump, not data, for this mode. ficient of the cable with the far end
left open. One would expect to see
–20 near complete reflection at low fre-
quency, with loss rising, accompanied
–25 by ripples from (connector?) mismatch.
–30 Figure 3 shows the two machines’
measurements. They are similar up to
–35
1 GHz. Above that, the Nano shows
Magnitude (dB)

–40 wilder ripples than the better VNA.

–45 The regular ripples offered by the
E5061A are more convincing; we attri-
–50 bute the Nano result to lower-quality
–55 connectors and worse source match.
The length of cable was physically
–60
Nano Rigid (S11) measured, showing a length of about
–65 5061 Rigid (S11) 1,050 mm. The Nano is provided with
–70 a time-domain reflectometry (TDR)
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 function that uses a Fourier transform.
Frequency (GHz) Figure 4 shows the Nano’s estimated
Figure 5. A comparison of S11 of the rigid coaxial cable. The far end is connected to cable length using its TDR function.
port 2 of the VNA. The E5061 was SOL-calibrated with a 6650F27-F cal kit, and the As can be seen from the peak of the
Nano was calibrated with the supplied SOL standards of the default calibration kit. reflected signal, the Nano shows a

90 April 2023
length of 1,020 mm; we attribute the
discrepancy to the value of the relative
velocity factor.
For completeness, Figure 5 shows
the S11 of the coaxial cable obtained
when connecting both ends to the two
ports of the VNAs. This means that
the cable has been terminated to 50 Ω
at port 2, and so we expect very few
reflections (S11) and most of the power
is delivered to port 2 (large S21). The S11
of the Nano is mostly 10 dB above the
E5061 values and has a slightly differ-
ent ripple structure. We attribute this
series and parallel resonances of the useful as the commercial machine in
crystal. Both machines would allow this application.
resonance Q to be found accurately.
In Figure 8 the crystal is connected Attenuator
directly to the ground. The x axis To test the dynamic range of the instru-
now spans only 200 Hz. The Q factor ments, and to run through an exercise
is higher, and the agreement remains that might well be carried out in a
excellent. Around the resonance point, laboratory with the help of a VNA, a
with 201 points in a sweep, points are “homemade” attenuator was designed
1-Hz apart. The Nano is every bit as and built. It is constructed in coplanar
20

Actual VNA Frequency Using DFM (Hz)

Nano
to an imperfect match on the second 15 E5061B
port of the Nano, and the lack of a full Expected
two-port calibration that might cor- 10
rect for this. This is a decent exposé of
5
a circumstance where a full two-port
calibration might be useful.
0

Frequency Accuracy and –5

Resolution
Frequency accuracy and resolution are –10
important with any VNA. They are
–15
important because of the occasional 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
need to measure narrow-bandwidth Set VNA Frequency (Hz)
DUTs, such as a quartz crystal or a
high Q-factor resonant circuit. Figure 6. The Nano VNA and the E5061 were set to transmit a single frequency
Figure 6 shows the measurement tone and the frequency is measured using the DMM. Results show the frequency
of the source frequency of each VNA resolution and accuracy of the two VNAs. Continuous wave frequencies were
requested in 1-Hz steps around 9 MHz precisely. The reference DFM has better
compared with values from a digital
than 1-ppm accuracy calibrated against a rubidium standard. Axes are scaled by
frequency meter (DFM) referencing a
subtracting the carrier frequency.
rubidium standard. The results using
the Nano are excellent; using 1-Hz
steps, the Nano is able to resolve to
within 1 Hz around 9 MHz. The Nano –5
is only –13 Hz different from what is 5061 (S21)
–10
actually requested, an error of about Nano (S21)
1 ppm. This is quite adequate, and –15
especially reasonable considering the
–20
E5061 is –9 Hz away from its set value.
Magnitude (dB)

The spectral features of quartz crys- –25

tals can be as narrow as a few hertz wide
–30
and provide a good example of where
resolution and accuracy are important. –35
In practice, an amplifier or filter might
–40
be designed around a crystal, but for
brevity we have simply connected the –45
crystal to a coaxial cable. This reduces
–50
the Q-factor, but provides a decent test 1.838 1.84 1.842 1.844 1.846 1.848 1.85
for comparing the VNAs (Figures 7 Frequency (MHz)
and 8). Both Figures 7 and 8 show excel-
lent agreement. The x axis of the first Figure 7. A comparison of S21 through a 1.8432-MHz quartz crystal. The crystal is
figure spans 12.3 KHz and shows both connected between the active conductors of the two ports in order to measure S21.

April 2023 91

0 as a “thru” device. This thru, and each
–0.5
–1
Magnitude (dB)
–1.5
–2
–2.5
–3
1.84285
Figure 8. A comparison of S11 looking into the 1.8432-MHz crystal. The crystal is
connected to the ground. GND: ground.
waveguide (CPW) [12], on cheap fiber-
glass printed circuit board (PCB), by
scratching grooves into single-sided
copper board. Since Wen’s original
equations do not anticipate the use of
thin, low dielectric-constant PCB, the
dimensions of the CPW board (groove
width, trace width, etc.) were found
using an online calculator [13].
Provisions were made to create sev-
eral stages along the board, each bear-
ing surface-mount resistors (SMDs)
arranged in the π-configuration, values
Figure 9. A hand-built one-stage
attenuator in the CPW. One π network is
soldered to the CPW with two SMD chip
resistors in parallel as the series element,
and on either side of the series resistance
two shunt resistors. Resistor values are
chosen to give 20 dB of attenuation.
92
resistors, to see how good the CPW is
progressive stage, is measured with
both VNAs. The Nano result implies
that the basic board with connectors
is not as good as the E5061 says it is.
Again, we attribute this to the imper-
fect load provided by port 2 of the
Nano, and the lack of full two-port cal-
ibration. Given the quick construction,
the poorer result would be credible.
If we sought to improve the base PCB,
5061–Crystal to GND (S11) the Nano would not be helpful.
Nano–Crystal to GND (S11)
Next, a cut was made in the center
conductor, and some resistors added
1.8429 1.84295 1.843 1.84305
Frequency (MHz) to create a 20-dB π attenuator. Some
algebra suggests that pairs of resistors
of 120 Ω in parallel on either side of a
series resistance composed of 470 Ω and
560 Ω resistors in parallel will produce
selected to produce 20 dB of attenuation 20.3 dB of attenuation and a termina-
per stage. Some SMA connectors are tion impedance of 49.5 Ω for a reflec-
crudely attached, and the S-parameters tion coefficient of better than –45 dB.
measured at various stages. The photo- Carrying this out leads to the “–20 dB”
graph in Figure 9 gives the idea. traces. Both VNAs give credible, si -
Figure 10 exemplifies the progress. milar results. The Nano is fine here.
Initially we measured the PCB with no The trace slides upwards, showing
0
–10
–20
–30
Magnitude (dB)
–40
–50
–60
–70
–80
–90
–100
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Frequency (GHz)
Nano CPW Thru (S21)
5061 CPW Thru (S21)
Nano CPW –20 dB Attenuator (S21)
5061 CPW –20 dB Attenuator (S21)
Nano CPW –40 dB Attenuator (S21)
5061 CPW –40 dB Attenuator (S21)
Nano CPW –60 dB Attenuator (S21)
5061 CPW –60 dB Attenuator (S21)
Figure 10. A comparison of S21 of a hand-built attenuator in the CPW. Traces
progressively show the PCB with no attenuator stages, and with one, two, and then
three separate 20-dB π networks in series.
April 2023
decreasing attenuation with frequency,
easily attributed to stray capacitance
and radiative transmission across the
cut in the main conductor on the board.
Nevertheless, we wanted more
attenuation. Another stage was added.
This lead to the “–40 dB” traces. Once
again, the Nano tells us that we are
doing a worse job than the E5061 per-
ceives. This might be a problem if we
seek to improve our attenuator: the
affecting the wanted measurements. results with the Nano are very close to
Figure 12 shows each of the “impor- those of the E5061, although they show
tant” S-parameters of the coupler, the more ripple in every case. S21 and S31
thru, sampled, and isolated cases. The easily confirm that the coupler is within
0
–10
–20
–30

Magnitude (dB)
Nano will be all but useless in report- –40
ing whether a small change improves
–50
things, as it is contributing most of
the ripple and nastiness. The trend is –60
good, the detail is obscured. –70
Pressing on to the next stage and –80
the “–60 dB” traces, it is clear that we
–90
did our design well, as the very low-
est frequency data sit at about the –100
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
right level. Sadly, we are not very good Frequency (GHz)
attenuator-makers, and both VNAs
Nano CPW Thru (S11)
agree on this. Disappointingly, the two 5061 CPW Thru (S11)
disagree by up to 25 dB, about exactly Nano CPW –20 dB Attenuator (S11)
where we went wrong, so again the 5061 CPW –20 dB Attenuator (S11)
Nano CPW –40 dB Attenuator (S11)
Nano would be of little use in pursuit
5061 CPW –40 dB Attenuator (S11)
of improvement. Nano CPW –60 dB Attenuator (S11)
Meanwhile, Figure 11 depicts the 5061 CPW –60 dB Attenuator (S11)
same progression, but looks at the input
return loss or S11. It is probably a good Figure 11. A comparison of S11 of the CPW attenuator. Traces progressively show the
thing we are easily satisfied with 10 or input match with no attenuator stages, and with one, two, and then three separate
more decibels of return loss, because the 20-dB π networks.
Nano is often in serious disagreement
with the E5061 on how we are doing.
0
Directional Coupler
Directional couplers are intriguing –10
components symbolic of the magic pos-
sible in the microwave and RF world –20
of traveling waves [14]. They are com-
Magnitude (dB)

Nano (S21) 5061 (S21)

mon devices; as already mentioned, –30
Nano (S31) 5061 (S31)
directional couplers are internally built
Nano (S41) 5061 (S41)
into nearly every VNA to separate out –40
the forward and backward waves. A
directional coupler is a four-port device, –50
but a four-port VNA is something of a
luxury, meaning to measure an external –60
coupler without changing physical con-
nections, a four-port VNA is needed. In –70
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
this section we use our two two-port Frequency (GHz)
VNAs to characterize an external 20-dB,
30- to 800-MHz coupler. To achieve this, Figure 12. A comparison of S21, S31, and S41 of a directional coupler with –20-dB
the two unused ports of the directional coupling factor, rated for 30 MHz to 800 MHz. Port 1 of the directional coupler is
coupler must be terminated in 50 Ω to connected to port 1 of the VNA, and each of the other ports are connected to port 2 of
avoid the reflections off those ports the VNA, one at a time, with unused ports terminated in loads.

April 2023 93
specification, and substantially agree In several instances, the simple A second directional structure, the
with the E5061. S41 is much lower and “one-port plus response” calibration of ability to source signal from port 2, and
it is more susceptible to the shortcom- the Nano resulted in spurious ripples an extra receiver channel would enable
ings of a simple two-port calibration. in the measured trace. If a smaller error unknown-thru and adapter-removal
Here the Nano trace shows several margin is desired in any of these cases, calibrations. An unknown thru is use-
decibels of ripple that are absent in then one has to buy the professional ful in the case where a well-known thru
the E5061. Figure 13 enlarges the S21 VNA. In particular, construction of is not available [10]. This turns out to be
trace from Figure 12. a “clean” device, free a common circumstance. This calibra-
The Nano is struggling from undesirable inter- tion enables any device to be used as a
to accurately measure The Nano nal reflections, would be thru, provided the device is reciprocal
S21, as observed earlier, was able to impossible without the and the phase shift to within one-quar-
and a user who sought
to fix a problem in a
achieve decent superior performance
of a professional instru-
ter of a wavelength is known. That thru
can connect otherwise-incompatible
coupler that was caus- results on every ment, because the Nano connectors or bridge a mechanical gap
ing even one-tenth of a measurement introduces too much of that cannot be reduced to zero or pre-
decibel of ripple would
be unable to discrimi-
we threw at its own shortcomings.
Dynamic range of
vent stretching and bending of near-
rigid cables. It will allow calibration to
nate between that in it, and mostly the Nano was fine up measure an “insertable device,” given
the coupler and that with adequate to 1 GHz, consider- only one gender of calibration stan-
caused by shortcomings
in the measurement.
accuracy. ing that harmonics are
used above 300 MHz.
dards. (An insertable device is one that
has one male and one female connec-
We failed to reach the tor, so that it can be connected in series
Discussion Nano’s dynamic r a n g e l i m it . T h i s with other devices without an addi-
T he Na no V NA p e r for m s we l l was essent ially because the cali- tional adapter. Most attenuators, unlike
against the E5061 Keysight ENA. bration limitations kicked in first. ours, are insertable, for example.)
The word fantastic comes to mind, The range is clearly better than –60 dB, Adapter removal is equally marvel-
given the price. The Nano was able to which seems more than adequate. ous. Consider the difficulty of measur-
achieve decent results on every mea- It is a shame about the inability to ing a device that has an SMA connector
surement we threw at it, and mostly implement a full two-port calibration on one end and an N-type on the
with adequate accuracy. A surpris- with the Nano. Not only would this other. If an adapter’s behavior can be
ing result was finding that the Nano give S12 and S22 but it would correct calibrated out, a more accurate mea-
can resolve to within 1 Hz. This fre- for poor port 2 match, at least one (the surement of the DUT can be found.
quency resolution will enable fine major?) cause for extraneous ripples in The authors’ expectation is that
bandwidth measurements. many measurements. once the appeal of better calibration,
and the simplicity of extra hardware,
are understood, the Nano will acquire
the ability to carry out these full two-
0 port calibrations. It will be worth the
–0.2 few extra dollars of hardware.
–0.4
–0.6
References
[1] “About NanoVNA.” NanoVNA. [Online]. Avail-
Magnitude (dB)

–0.8 able: http://nanovna.com; “NanoVNA users.”

Groups.io. Accessed: Aug. 2022. [Online]. Avail-
–1 able: https://groups.io/g/nanovna-users/
[2] R. H. Caverly, “Use of low cost vector network
–1.2
analyzers in undergraduate RF and wireless cir-
–1.4 cuit laboratories,” American Society for Engi-
neering Education, Washington, DC, USA, Apr.
–1.6 2021. Accessed: Mar. 27, 2022. [Online]. Avail-
Nano (S21) able: https://peer.asee.org/use-of-low-cost
–1.8 5061 (S21) -vector-network-analyzers-in-undergraduate
–2 -rf-and-wireless-circuit-laboratories
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 [3] D. Derickson, X. Jin, and C. C. Bland, “The
Frequency (GHz) NanoVNA vector network analyzer: This new
open-source electronic test and measurement
device will change both remote and in-person
Figure 13. A comparison of S21 of the coupler, enlarged from Figure 12. educational delivery of circuits, electronics,

94 April 2023
 radio frequency and communication labo-
ratory course delivery,” American Society
for Engineering Education, Washington,
DC, USA, Apr. 2021. Accessed: Mar. 27, 2022.
[Online]. Available: https://peer.asee.org/the-
nanovna-vector-network-analyzer-this-new
-open-source-electronic-test-and-measurement
-device-will-change-both-remote-and-in-person
-educational-delivery-of-circuits-electronics
-radio-frequency-and-communication-laboratory
-course-delivery
[4] P. Salas, “NanoVNA network analyzer,” QST
Mag., American Radio Relay League, Newing-
ton, CT, USA, May 2020, pp. 39–42.
[5] D. Lung, “Checking out TV antennas with a $130
VNA,” Insight RF Technol., pp. 26–27, Jan. 2020.
https://www.tvtechnology.com/opinions/
checking-out-tv-antennas-with-a-130-vna
[6] J. Gonzalez-Teruel et al., “Measurement of the
broadband complex permittivity of soils in the
frequency domain with a low-cost Vector Net-
work Analyzer and an Open-Ended coaxial
probe,” Comput. Electron. Agriculture, vol. 195,
no. 106847, pp. 1–11, Apr. 2022, doi: 10.1016/j.
compag.2022.106847.
[7] Q. Wang, W. Che, G. Monti, and M. Mon-
giardo, “Measurements for wireless power
transfer by using nanoVNA,” in Proc. 34th
General Assem. Scientific Symp. Int. Union Ra-
dio Sci. (URSI GASS), Aug./Sep. 2021, pp. 1–3,
doi: 10.23919/URSIGASS51995.2021.9560402.
Administrative Committee
Call for Nominations
For more information and nomination form go to: https://mtt.org/nominations-adcom
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MMM.2023.3241416
April 2023
[8] A. Cataldo et al., “Portable microwave reflec-
We want
tometry system for skin sensing,” IEEE Trans.
Instrum. Meas., vol. 71, 2022, Art. no. 4003308,
to hear
doi: 10.1109/TIM.2022.3154804.
[9] A. Ferrero and U. Pisani, “Tho-port network
analyzer calibration using an unknown
‘Thru’,” IEEE Microw. Guided Wave Lett.,
vol. 2, no. 12, pp. 505–507, Dec. 1992, doi:
from you!
10.1109/75.173410.
[10] K. Wong, “The ‘Unknown Thru’ calibration ad-
vantage,” in Proc. 63rd ARFTG Conf., Jun. 11, 2004,
pp. 73–81, doi: 10.1109/ARFTG.2004.1387858.
[11] J. Randa, W. Wiatr, and R. L. Billinger, “Com-
parison of adapter characterization methods,”
IEEE Trans. Microw. Theory Techn., vol. 47, no.
12, pp. 2613–2620, Dec. 1999, doi: 10.1109/22.
809014.
[12] C. Wen, “Coplanar waveguide: A surface strip IMAGE LICENSED BY GRAPHIC STOCK
transmission line suitable for nonreciprocal gy-
romagnetic device applications,” IEEE Trans. Mi-
crow. Theory Techn., vol. 17, no. 12, pp. 1087–1090, Do you like what you’re reading?
Dec. 1969, doi: 10.1109/TMTT.1969.1127105.
[13] “Coplanar waveguide calculator.” Micro- Your feedback is important.
waves101. Accessed: Aug. 30, 2022. [Online]. Let us know—
Available: https://www.microwaves101.
com/calculators/864-coplanar-waveguide send the editor-in-chief an e-mail!
-calculator
[14] H. J. Riblet, “A mathematical theory of directional
couplers,” Proc. IRE, vol. 35, no. 11, pp. 1307–1313,
Nov. 1947, doi: 10.1109/JRPROC.1947.233573.
Deadline: May 15, 2023
95
 Solution to Last Month’s Quiz
■ Takashi Ohira

T
he RF voltage source vs(t) has a sinusoidal wave-
vL (t) vD (t)
form, which can be expressed as

v s (t) = [VP VQ] 8 sin ~t B (1) L D

cos ~t
vs (t) C∞ Vo
where VP and VQ are the in-phase and quadrature
components, respectively. In terms of the voltages la-
beled on the elements in Figure 1, Kirchhoff’s voltage RF Rectifier dc
Source Load
law gives
Figure 1. The rectifier circuit diagram along with its
internal voltages for time-domain analysis.
v s (t) + v L (t) + v D (t) = Vo . (2)

The puzzle in the January 2023 issue of IEEE Micro- v s (0) = Vo . (4)
wave Magazine [1] reminds us of an important law on
the inductor and diode (L + D). That is, a series L + D For the waveform (1) to satisfy this initial condition, the
generally performs zero-voltage switching (ZVS) quadrature component must meet
when D turns on. Defining the time origin t = 0 at that
VQ = Vo . (5)
moment, the ZVS law can be expressed as
Therefore, the correct answer to last month’s quiz is (b).
v L (0) = v D (0) = 0. (3) Even though the circuit is so simple and thus equations
are also as simple as (1) to (5), we could not reach the
From (2) and (3), we quickly find solution without knowing the ZVS law.

Takashi Ohira (ohira@tut.jp) is with the Toyohashi University of Reference

Technology, Aichi 441-8580, Japan. He is a Life Fellow of IEEE. [1] T. Ohira, “Inductor and diode,” IEEE Microw. Mag., vol. 24, no. 1, pp.
89–90, Jan. 2023, doi: 10.1109/MMM.2022.3211596.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MMM.2022.3233506
Date of current version: 10 March 2023

96 April 2023
 ur se lf
e e Yo 3
S 2
A t I M S 2 0
IMS
Connecting Minds. Exchanging Ideas.

Register
Now!
IEEE MTT-S International
Microwave Symposium
11-16 June 2023
San Diego California

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MMM.2022.3233499

ims-ieee.org
APRIL 2023 2023 IEEE MTT-S International
2023 IEEE Wireless and Microwave Conference on Numerical
Technology Conference (WAMICON) Electromagnetic and Multiphysics
17–18 April 2023 Modeling and Optimization
Location: Melbourne, FL, USA (NEMO)
28–30 June 2023
2023 IEEE Texas Symposium on Wireless Location: Winnipeg, MB, Canada
and Microwave Circuits (WMCS)
19–20 April 2023 JULY 2023
Location: Waco, TX, USA 2023 Sixth IEEE International
Workshop on Mobil Terahertz
MAY 2023 Systems (IWMTS)
2023 IEEE 27th Workshop on Signal 3–5 July 2023
and Power Integrity (SPI) Location: Bonn, Germany
7–10 May 2023
Location: Aveiro, Portugal SEPTEMBER 2023
2023 IEEE MTT-S International
2023 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Biomedical Conference
Wireless Symposium (IWS) (IMBioC)
16–19 May 2023 11–13 September 2023
Location: Qingdao, China Location: Leuven, Belgium
JUNE 2023 2023 48th International Conference
2023 IEEE Wireless Power Transfer on Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz
Conference and Expo (WPTCE) Waves (IRMMW-THz)
5–9 June 2023 17–23 September 2023
Location: San Diego, CA, USA Location: Montreal, QB, Canada
2023 IEEE/MTT-S International 2023 European Microwave Week
Microwave Symposium—IMS 2023 17–22 September 2023
(co-located with RFIC 2023, ARFTG) Location: Berlin, Germany
11–20 June 2023
Location: San Diego, CA, USA OCTOBER 2023
2023 IEEE BiCMOS and Compound
Semiconductor Integrated Circuits and
Technology Symposium (BCICTS)
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MMM.2022.3233507 14–18 October 2023
Date of current version: 10 March 2023 Location: Monterey, CA, USA
98
2023 IEEE 32nd Conference on
Electrical Performance on Electronic
Packaging and Systems (EPEPS)
15–18 October 2023
Location: Milpitas, CA, USA
2023 International Topical Meeting
on Microwave Photonics (MWP)
15–18 October 2023
Location: Nanjing, China
15th International Conference on
Advanced Technologies, Systems,
and Services in Telecommunications
25–27 October 2023
Location: Nis, Serbia
NOVEMBER 2023
2023 SBMO/IEEE MTT-S International
Microwave and Optoelectronics
Conference (IMOC)
5–9 November 2023
Location: Castelldefels, Spain
IEEE Conference on Microwaves,
Communications, Antennas, Bio-
medical Engineering, and Electronic
Systems (COMCAS)
6–8 November 2023
Location: Tel Aviv, Israel
2023 International Workshop on
Integrated Nonlinear Microwave and
Millimeter-Wave Circuits (INMMIC)
8–11 November 2023
Location: Aveiro, Portugal
April 2023

20th SBMO/IEEE MTT-S
International Microwave and
Optoelectronics Conference (IMOC 2023)
Microwave, terahertz and optics: towards smart innovations
November 5-9, 2023, Castelldefels | Barcelona | Spain
GENERAL INFORMATION:
The SBMO/IEEE MTT-S International Microwave and
Optoelectronics Conference is a biennial forum on microwave,
millimeter wave, terahertz and photonics methods and techniques
for both science and engineering, sponsored by the Brazilian
Microwave and Optoelectronics Society (SBMO) and the IEEE
Microwave Theory and Technologies Society of the Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE MTT-S).
The 2023 SBMO/IEEE MTT-S International Microwave and
Optoelectronics Conference will be held at the Centre Tecnològic
de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya (CTTC), in Castelldefels |
Barcelona | Spain from November 5 to 9, 2023. Accepted and
presented technical papers will be published in the IMOC 2023
Conference Proceedings and will appear on the IEEE Xplore
system.
SCOPE:
IMOC 2023 is committed to gather researchers to share their
understanding of the researched issues and their progress in the
search for solutions. Come and join us at the IMOC 2023
conference for this exciting debate.
Prospective authors are invited to submit papers in the following
(but not limited to) areas:
• Antennas and Radio Propagation
• Artificial and Smart Electromagnetic Materials
• Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Radiation
• Electromagnetic compatibility and interference
• Microwave and mmWave Components, Circuits and Devices
• Microwave and Optical Measurements
• Microwave and Optical Industrial Applications
• Microwave and Optical Sensors
• Microwave Systems
• Microwave, mmWave and Terahertz Devices and Applications
• Optical Communication Systems and Subsystems
• Optical Components, Fibers, and Devices
• Optical Networks, including control and management aspects
• Advanced Photonic Networks and enabling technologies
• Data center networks and technologies
• Quantum technologies and security in optical
communications/networks
• Optical and wireless convergence, systems and networks in
support of 6G
• Radio over Fiber and Microwave Photonics
• Electromagnetic Field Theory and Numerical Techniques
• Active and Nonlinear Microwave Circuits
• New Electromagnetics Applications
• Smart Antennas, Digital Beam-Forming and MIMO Antennas
• Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Microwaves and
Optoelectronics
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MMM.2022.3232041
FIRST CALL FOR PAPERS
Paper submission deadline: May 8, 2023
PAPER SUBMISSION:
Paper submission guidelines: submitted papers must be
unpublished and should not be under review elsewhere at the
same time. Accepted papers should not exceed 3 pages in the
two-column IEEE Transactions style. Papers must be registered on
EDAS and submitted in PDF format. Submitted papers will be
subject to a minimum of three independent reviews.
IMPORTANT DATE:
Paper Submission Deadline: May 8, 2023.
Additional information is available at:
https://www.events.sbmo.org.br/imoc2023
CONFERENCE ORGANIZERS:
General Chairs:
• Marcos Tavares de Melo (Federal University of Pernambuco -
UFPE, Brazil)
• Ignacio Llamas-Garro (Centre Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions
de Catalunya - CTTC, Spain)
Technical Program Committee Chairs:
• Joaquim Ferreira Martins Filho (Federal University of
Pernambuco - UFPE, Brazil)
• Roberto Gómez García (Universidad de Alcalá de Henares, Spain)
• Adaildo Gomes Assunção (Federal University of Rio Grande do
Norte - UFRN, Brazil)
• Michela Svaluto Moreolo (Centre Tecnològic de
Telecomunicacions de Catalunya - CTTC, Spain)
Finance Chairs:
• Bruno Gomes Moura de Oliveira (Federal Institute of
Pernambuco - IFPE, Brazil)
• Jung-Mu Kim (Jeonbuk National University, South Korea)
Organizing Committee Chairs:
• Raul Camelo de Andrade Almeida Júnior (Federal University of
Pernambuco - UFPE, Brazil)
• Guido Luzi (Centre Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de
Catalunya - CTTC, Spain)
• Riccardo Palamá (Centre Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de
Catalunya - CTTC, Spain)
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燧燥燧燨/+++3::9/TZKXTGZOUTGR3OIXU]G\K=UXQYNUV9KXOKYUT
'J\GTIKJ3GZKXOGRYGTJ6XUIKYYKYLUX8,GTJ:.`'VVROIGZOUTY
Organizing Committee
General Chair
Yu Jian Cheng, University of Electronic Science and Technology
of China, China
General Co-Chair
Yong Xin Guo, National University of Singapore, Singapore
Wen Quan Che, South China University of Technology, China
TPC Chair
Cheng Wang, University of Electronic Science and Technology
of China, China
TPC Co-Chairs
Qiang Cheng, Southeast University, China
Kuang Zhang, Harbin Institute of Technology, China
Lin Sheng Wu, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
Ming Chun Tang, Chongqing University, China
Bing Zhang, Sichuan University, China
ISC Co-Chairs
Maurizio Bozzi, University of Pavia, Italy
Christophe Fumeaux, University of Adelaide, Australia
Ke Wu, Polytechnique Montréal, Canada
Kwai Man Luk, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong,
China
Mauro Ettorre, Michigan State University, USA
Yue Ping Zhang, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Richard W. Ziolkowski, University of Technology Sydney,
Australia
Award Committee Chair
Kai Kang, University of Electronic Science and Technology of
China, China
Award Committee Co-Chairs
Zhang Ming Zhu, Xidian University, China
Wen Hua Chen, Tsinghua University, China
Wen Jie Feng, South China University of Technology, China
Zhi Hao Jiang, Southeast University, China
Publication/Web Co-Chairs:
Ya Fei Wu, University of Electronic Science and Technology of
China, China
Xiao Wei Zhu, Southeast University, China
Sponsorship/Publicity Chair
Bo Zhang, University of Electronic Science and Technology of
China, China
Local Arrangement Chair
Qiao Liu, University of Electronic Science and Technology of
China, China
Xia Qin Li, University of Electronic Science and Technology of
China, China
Finance Chair
Qin Wan, University of Electronic Science and Technology of
China, China
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MMM.2023.3241700
/3=9'36燧燥燧燨
4U\KSHKX燦燨燦燪燧燥燧燨)NKTMJ[)NOTG
)GRRLUX6GVKXY
NZZV ]]]KSIUTLIUSOS]YGSV狤狢狤狥
IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Workshop Series on Advanced Materials and Processes for RF and
THz Applications (IMWS-AMP 2023) is organized by University of Electronic Science and Technology of
China, co-sponsored by National University of Singapore Research Institute (Chongqing), IEEE Microwave
Theory and Technology Society (IEEE MTT-S), and IEEE Chengdu Joint AP/MTT Chapter. IMWS-AMP 2023 is
a continuation of a series of annual international events held in Suzhou, China (2015), Chengdu, China
(2016), Pavia, Italy (2017), Michigan, USA (2018), Bochum, Germany (2019), Virtual (2020), Chongqing,
China (2021) and Guangzhou, China (2022). The purpose of this platform is to boost technical and
educational activities as well as exchanges and collaborations within the international microwave
community. IMWS-AMP2023 will be held in Chengdu, China on Nov. 13-15, 2023. IMWS-AMP2023 will
feature both invited and contributed papers. Distinguished researchers will be invited to deliver keynote
speeches on technology trends and significant advances in relevant topics. Contributed papers are solicited
for the same topics as listed below:
Topics
The topics include, but are not limited to, the following technical areas:
Advanced Materials
 Wide bandgap and other emerging semiconductor materials based electronic devices and circuits
 Advanced materials for RF electronics and antennas
 Engineered metamaterials and plasmonics for absorption, cloaking, and wave manipulation
 Spin-wave and magnetic crystal materials
Emerging Devices & Circuits
 Emerging electronic and optoelectronic devices
 Advanced silicon, integrated passive devices and integrated circuits
 Cryogenic devices and circuits for quantum sensing & control
 Passive/active microwave and terahertz devices and circuits
 Compound semiconductor monolithic integrated circuits
Progressing Packaging:
 Integrated passive devices and advanced packaging for RF applications
 Low-temperature co-fired ceramic and liquid crystal polymer based microwave devices and circuits
 Large-area printing, inkjet printing and 3D printing materials and processes for RF and THz applications
 Fan-out wafer/panel level packaging for 5G mmWave and IoT, etc.
Large-scale Antennas & Microsystems
 Antennas with advanced/complex/artificial materials and processes
 Microwave and millimeter wave antennas and antenna arrays
 Analog, RF, millimeter wave and THz microsystems
Electronic Paper Submission
Prospective authors are invited to submit manuscripts in electronic (PDF) format only. All papers must be
written in English and limited to three pages including text, references, and figures. A template is available
on the IMWS-AMP 2023 website. Papers submitted will be peer reviewed and all papers presented at the
conference will be included in IEEE Xplore pending quality review. Note that one-page abstracts can also be
acceptable, but it will not be included in IEEE Xplore.
Special Issues in IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques (IEEE T-MTT):
Authors of all papers presented at IEEE IMWS-AMP 2023 are invited to submit an expanded version of their
papers to a Mini-Special Issue of IEEE T-MTT. A significant extension of the conference paper is required, so
that the novelty and quality of the manuscript is the same as that of regular manuscripts of IEEE T-MTT.
Every paper will be reviewed in the same manner as all other regular submissions.
Best Paper Awards
Awards for Best Student Papers will be presented to the winners at the conference. The Awards Committee
will judge the papers primarily on originality, significance, technical soundness, presentation, and reviewers’
reports. To qualify for the Best Student Paper, the author must be a full-time student who presents, as the
first author, the paper at the conference.
Special Sessions
Special sessions of Young Professionals (YP) and Women in Microwaves (WiM) will be organized in the
conference. The other special sessions are welcome and the requests to organize should be submitted to
the committees no later than July 10, 2023.
PhD Student Initiative Program
PhD Student Initiative is sponsored by IEEE MTT-S Education Committee. Through this scheme, the plan is
to invite mid-stage PhD students (without any paper at IMWS-AMP 2023) from universities or institutes in
China to participate in this conference. The registration fee for the selected candidates will be waived, and
they will be allowed to attend all the events during the conference.
Exhibitions
Exhibition of company products is solicited for the areas related to the topics. Interested parties could
contact the Conference Secretariat.
Important Dates
Paper Submission Deadline: Aug. 1, 2023
Notification of Acceptance: Sept. 15, 2023
Pre-registration: Oct. 15, 2023