Chapter 11

Strip Lines

11-0 INTRODUCTION

Prior to 1965 nearly all microwave equipment utilized

coaxial, waveguide, or paral-
lel strip-line circuits. In recent years-with the introduction of monolithic micro-
wave integrated circuits (MMICs)--microstrip lines and coplanar strip lines have
been used extensively, because they provide one free and accessible surface on whichh
solid-state devices can be placed. In this chapter parallel, coplanar, and shielded
strip lines and microstrip lines, which are shown in Fig. 11-0-1 [1], are described.

Snp
Conductor

Dielectric
substrate e

Ground plane

(a) Schematic diagram (b) Field lines

Figure 11-0-1 Schematic diagrams of strip lines.

472
 Sec. 11.1 Microstrip Lines 473

11-1 MICRoSTRIP LINES

Chapter 3 described and discussed conventional transmission lines in detail. All

electrical and electronic devices with igh-power output commonly use conventional
ines, such a coaxial lines or waveguides, tor power transmission. However. the mi-
crowave solid-state device is usually fabricated as a semiconducting chip with a vol-
ume on the order of 0.008-0.08 mm. The method of applying signals to the chips
and extracting output power from them is entirely different from that used for
vacuum-tube devices. Microwave integrated circuits with microstrip lines are com-
monly used with the chips. The microstripline also is line. In
called an open-strip
engineering applications, MKS units have not been universally adopted for use in
designing the microstrip line. In this section we use either English units or MKS
units, depending on the application, for practical purposes.
Modes on microstrip line are only quasi-transverse electric and magnetic
(TEM). Thus the
theory of TEM-coupled lines applies only approximately. Radia
tion loss in microstrip lines is a problem, particularly at such discontinuities as short
circuit posts, corners, and so on. However, the use of thin, high-dielectric materials
the of the strip. has an ad-
considerably reduces radiation loss open A microstrip line
vantage over the balanced-strip line because the open strip has better interconnec
ion features and easier fabrication. Several researchers have analyzed the circuit of a
microstrip line mounted on an infinite dielectric substrate over an infinite ground
plane 2 to S. Numerical analysis of microstrip lines, requires large
however, solved digital
computers, whereas microstrip-line problems generally be can conformal
by
transformations without requiring complete numerical cakulations.

11-1-1 Characteristic Impedance of Mcrostrip Lines

Microstrip lines are used extensively to interconnect high-speed logic circuits in dig-
1tal computers because they can be fabricated by automated techniques and they

provide the required uniform signal paths. Figure 11-1-1 shows cross sections of a
microstrip line and a wire-over-ground line for purposes of comparison.
In Fig. I1-l-la) you can see that the characteristic impedance of a microstrip

(a
Figure 11-1-1 Cross sections of (a) a microsirip line and (b) a wire-overground
ine.
474 Strip Lines Chap.1 1

line is the strip-line

a function of strip-ine width, the thickness, the distance be-
tween the line and the ground plane, and the homogeneous dielectric constant of the
board matlerial. Several different methods for determining the characteristic
impedance of a microstrip line have been developed. The fhield-equation method was
employed by several authors for caculating an accurate value of the characteristic
B it is
impedance to 5]. However, requires the use a of large digital computer and
extremely complicated. Anoiher method is to derive the characteristic-impedance
equation of a microstrip line from a well-known equation and make some changes
2. This method is called a comparaiive,ofora an indirect, method. The well-known
equation of the characteristic impedance wire-over-ground transmission line, as
shown in ig. I1-1-1(6), is given by

for hd (11-1-1)
where
h
dielectric constant of the ambient medium
the height from the center of the wire to the ground plane
d diameter of the wire

If the effective or equivalent values of the relative dielectric constant e, of the ambi-
ent medium and the diameter d of the wire can be determined for the microstrip
line, the characteristic impedance of the microstrip line can be calculated.

Efective dielectrlc constant é For a homogeneous dielectric medium,

the propagation-delay time per unit length is
T= VHE (11-1-2)
where is the permeability of the medium and e is the permittivity of the medium.
In free space, the propagation -delay time is

Ta V4oeo =
3.333 ns/m or 1.016 ns/ft (11-1-3)
where

4o 4T X 10 H/m, or 3.83 x 107 H/ft

o 8.854 x 10-" F/m, or 2.69 x 10" F/ft
In transmission lines used for interconnections, the relative permeability is 1. Con-
sequently, the propagation-delay time tor a line in a nonmagnetic medium is

T 1.106 Ve ns/ft 1-4)

The cffective relative dielectric constant for a microstrip line can be related to the
relative dielectric constant of the board materíal. DiGiacomo and his coworkers dis
covered an empirical equation for the effective relative dielectric constant of aa mi-
crostrip line by measuring the propagation-delay time and the relative dielectric con-
stant of several board materials, such as fiberglass-epoxy and nylon phenolic [6].
Sec. 11.1 Microstrip Lines 475

The empirical equation, as shown in Fig. 11-1-2, is expressed as

,0.475e +0.67 (11-1-5)

where e, is the relative dielectric constant of the board material and E is the effec
tive relative dielectric constant for a microstrip line.

+ 0.67
E 0.475e,

Figure 11-1-2 Efective diclectric con

tant as a unction of relative dielectric

constant for a
microstrip line. (Afier
H. R.. KauPp 2 : reprinted by permis
Relative dielectric constant. e sion of EEE, Ine.)

of a
Transformation rectangular conductor Into an equlvalent circuler
conductor. The cross-section of a microstrip line is rectangular, so the rectangu
lar conductor must be transformed into an equivalent circular conductor. Springfield
discovered an empirical equation for the transformation [7]. His equation is

d 0.67w(0.8+ W (11-1-6)

where d diameler of the wire over ground

wwidth of the microstrip line
Ithickness of the micrOstrip line
The limitation of the ratio of thickness to width is between 0.1 and 0.8, as indicated
in Fig. 11-1-3.

Characteristlc Impedance equation. Substituting Eq. (11-1-5) for the

dielectric constant and Eq. (11-1-6) for the equivalent diameter in Eq. (11-1-1)
yields

for (h<0.8w) (11-1-7)

 76 Strip LinesChap. 11

0.

0. Figure 1-1-13
round conductor
Relationship
and
berween a
a
rectanguiarAier
co
. 0.0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 08 0.9 1.0 0 ar rom s ground plane.
H. R. KaupPP 12]: reprinted by permis
Ratio
of strip thickness to width. t/w S1On TEEE, Inc.)

where = relative dielectric constant of the board material

h line to the ground
height from the microstrip
line
Wwidth of the miCTOstrip
thickness of the microstrip line

Equation (11l-1-7) is the equation of characteristic impedance for a narrow mi

crostrip line. The velocity of propagation is

m/s (11-1-8)
Ve VErr

The characteristic impedance for a wide microstrip line was derived by Assadourian
and others and is
[8] expressed by

Ve, * for(wh) (11-1-9)

Limitations of Equation (11-1-7). Most microstrip lines are made from

boards of copper with a thickness of 1.4 or 2.8 mils (1 or 2 ounces of copper per
square foot). The narrowest widths of lines in production are about 0.005-0.010 in.
Line widths are usualy less than 0.020 in.; consequently, ratios of thickness to
width of less than 0.l are uncommon. The straight-line approximation from Eq.
is an of characteristic impedance, or the ratio of thickness to
(1-1-6) accurate value
width between 0.I and 0.8.
Sec. 11.1 Microstrip Lines 477

Since the dielectric constant of the materials used does not vary excessively
with frequency, the dielectric constant of a microstrip line can be considered inde-
pendent of frequency. The validity of Eq. (11-1-7) is doubtful for values of diclec
are the the
tric thickness h that greater than 80% of line width
w. Typical values for
characteristic impedance of a microstrip line vary from 50 t o 150 . if the values
of the parameters vary from e, = 5.23, 1 = 2.8 mils, w = 10 mils, and h = 8 mils
to e 2 . 9 , t = 2.8 mils, w = 10 mils, and h = 67 mils [2.

Example 11-1-1: Characteristic Impedance of Mierostrip Line

A certain microstrip line has the folowing parameters:

23
h = mils

I = 2.8 mils

w=. O mils

Calculate the characteristic impedance Zo of the line.

Solution

V5.23+ 141 o8x10+28

45.78 N

11.1-2 Losses in Microstrip Lines

Microstrip transmission lines consisting of a conductive ribbon attached to a dielec

tric sheet with conductive backing (see Fig. 11-1-4) are widely used in both mi-
crowave and computer technology. Because such lines are easily fabricated by
printed-circit manufacturing techniques, they have economic and technical merit.

n vonductor

DICICc ustrate

Schematic diagram of a
rounu pane
Figure 11-14
microstrip line.
 478 Strip Lines Chap. 11

The characteristic impedance and wave-propagation velocity of a microstrip

line was analyzed in Section 11-1-1. The other characteristic of the microstrip line is
its attenuation. The attenuation constant of the dominant microstrip mode depends
on geometric factors, electrical properties of the substrate and conductors, and on
the frequency. For a nonmagnetic dielectric substrate, two types of losses occur in
the dominant microstrip mode: (1) dielectric loss in the substrate and (2) ohmic skin
loss in conductor the The sum two
the surip and ground plane. of these losses may be
expressed as losses per unit length in terms of an attenuation factor a,. From ordi-
nary transmission-line theory, the power carried by a wave traveling in the positive z
direction is given by

P
V =
(v.el,*") = Per (11-1-10)
where Po |V.F/(22») is the power at z = 0.
The attenuation constant a can be expressed as

a - 2P() ata (11-1-11)

where a is the dielectric attenuation constant and a is the ohmic attenuation con-
stant.
The gradient of power in the z direction in Eq. (11-1-11) can be further ex
pressed in terms of the power loss per unit length dissipated by the resistance and
the power loss per unit length in the dielectric. That is,

_dPla)-
dz

(RI) + oV y
-
1/ R + vPo =
P. + P (11-1-12)
where o is the conductivity of the dielectric substrate board.
Substitution of Eq. (11-1-12) into Eq. (11-1-1) results in

a2P (2) Np/cm (11-1-13)

ind

a2P(2) Np/cm (11-1-14)

Dielectric losses. As stated in Section 2-5-3, when the conductivity of a

dielectric cannot be neglecied, the electric and magnetic fields in the dielectric are
no longer in time phase. In that case the dielectric attenuation constant, as expressedd
in Eq. (2-5-20), is given by
Sec. 11.1 Microstrip ines 479

Np/cm (11-1-15)
where o is the conductivity of the dielectric substrate board in U/cm. This dielectric
constant can be expressed in terms of dielectric loss tangent as shown in Eq.
(2-5-17):

tan6= (11-1-16)
Then the diclectric attenuation constant is expressed by

a Ve an Np/cm (11-1-17)

Since the microstrip line is nonmagnetic mixed dielectric

a system. upper the dielec
tric above the microstrip ribbon is air, in which no loss occurs. Welch and Pratt 19
derived an expression for the attenuation constant of a diclectric substrate. Later on,
Pucel and his coworkers | 10) modified Welch's cquation 19). The result is

a 4.34

= 1.634 x 10- dB/cm (11-1-18)

VE
In Eq. (11-1-18) the conversion factor of I Np 8.686 dB is used, e, is the effec
tive dielectric constant of the substrate, as expressed in Eq. (11-1-5), and q denotes
the dielectric filling factor, defined by Wheeler [3] as

(11-1-19)

We usually express the attenuation constant per wavelength as

a27.3 dB/A (11-1-20)

where A, a n d Ao is the wavelength in free space, or

Cre

e is the velocity of light in vacuum.

A and
If the loss tangent, tan 6, is independent of frequency, the dielectric attenua-
tion per wavelength is also independent of frequency. Moreover, if the substrate
conductivity is independent of frequency, as for a semiconductor, the dielectric at-
tenuation per unit is also independent of frequency. Since g Is a function of a n d
w/h. the filling factors for the losS tangent qea/¬r and for the conductivity q/Ve
are also functions of these quantities. Figure 11-1-5 shows the los-tangent filling
factor against w/h for a range of dielectric constants suitable for microwave inte-
 A80 Strip Lines Chap. 1

,105(rutile)

-S0

0.96
4

12

0.94

0.92
9.35 (AL-995
alumina)

0.90

Figure factor for

11-1.s Filling lo
0.880 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 .2
L LL
14 .6 18 2.0
tangent of substrate as a fund
microstrip
tion of w/h. (Afier R. A. Pucel ea a

1O: reprinted by permission of IEEL

w/h

grated circujts. For most practical purposes, this factor is considered to be 1. Figurd
I1-1-6 illustrates the product aup
against w/h for two semiconducting substrates, sil-
icon and gallium arsenide, that are used for integrated microwave circuits. For de-
5ign purposes, the conductivity filling factor, which exhibits only a mild dependence
on w/h, can be ignored.
losses. line over low-loss dielectric substrate, the
Ohmlc In microstrip a a
predominant sources of losses at microwave frequencies are the nonperfect conduc-
is
tors. The current density in the conductors of a microstrip line concentratedin
sheet that iS approximately a skin depth thick inside the conductor surface and ex-
a

posed to the electric field. Both the strip conductor thickness and the ground plane
thickness are assumed to be at least three or four skin depths thick. The current den-
sity in the strip conductor and the ground conductor is not uniform in the transverse
plane. The microstrip conductor contributes the major part of the ohmic loss. A dia-
gram of the current densityJ f o r a microstrip line is shown in Fig. I1-1-7.
Because of mathematical complexity, exact expressions for the current density
of a microstrip line with nonzero thickness have never been derived lo). several re-
searchers 18] have assumed, for simplicity, that the current distribution is uniform
and equal to l/w in both conductors and confined to the region |x|< w/2. With
this assumption, the conducting attenuation constant of a wide microstrip line is
given by
W
a 8.680K IB/cm for>1 (11-1-21)
 Sec. 11.1 Microstrip Lines 481

390

80
Silicon (e, = | I 8 ) -

60
GaAs (e, = 13.10)

330

320
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2.4 1.6 1.8 2.0 2.2

W
Figure 11-16 Dielectric attenuation factor of microstrip as a function of w/h for
silicon and gallium arsenide substrales. (After R. A. Pucel et at. [1o}; reprinted by
permission of JEEE, Inc.)

Bottom of strip

Top of strip

Ground plane
Figure 11-1.7 Current distribution
on microstrip conductors. (After R. A
wwww ww. ww w Pucel et al. [10): reprinted Yby
permis
permi
sion of IEEE, Inc.

where R, = is the surface skin resistance in f2/square,

R, isN/square

i s the skin depth in cm

For a narrow microstrip line with w/h I , however, q. (11-1-21) is not ap-
plicable. Tthe reason is that the current distribution in the conductor is not uniform,
as assumed. Pucel and his coworkers [10, 11] derived the following three formulas
from the results of Wheeler's work [3]:
482 Strip Lines Chap. 11

for 1-1-2)|

fon 2 (11-1-23)
and

8.68

r2s
h
(11-1-24)

where a is expressed in dB/cm and

e 2.718
w' = w+ Aw
(11-1-25)

(11-1-26)

- ) for (11-1-27)

The values of a, obtained from solving Eqs. (11-1-22) through (1 1-1-24) are plotted
in Fig. 11-1-8. For purposes of comparison, values of a based on Assadourian and
Rimai's E4. (11-1-21) are also shown.

Radiatlon losses. In addition

to the conductor and dielectric losses, mi-
crostrip line
also has
radiation losses. The radiation loss
depends on the substrate's
thickness and dielectric constant, as well as its geometry. Lewin [12] has calculated
the radiation loss for several discontinuities using the following approximations:

1. TEM transmission
2. Uniform dielectric in the neighborhood of the strip, equal in magnitude to an
effective value
3. Neglect of radiation from the transverse clectric (TE) ficld component parallel
to the stripP
4. Substrate thickness much less than the free-space wavelength
 Sec. 11.1 Microstrp Lines

0.005

0.01

0.024 Assadounan and Kima.

Fq.(13-2-12

. 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0

Flgure 11-1-8 Theoretical conductor attenuation factor of microstrip as a function

of w/h. (Afier R. A. Pucel et al. [10;: reprinted by permission of IEEE, Inc.)

Lewin's results show that the ratio of radiated power to total dissipated power for an
open-circuited microstrip line is

(11-1-28)

where F (e) is a radiation factor given by

-
in which e is the effective dielectric constant and Ào
(11-1-29)

c/fis the free-space wave-

length.
The radiation factor decreases with increasing substrate dielectric constant. So,
alternatively., Eq. (11-1-28) can be expressed as
(11-1-30)
 84 Strip Lines Chap. 11

where R, is the radiation resistance of an open-circuited microstrip and is given by

R 240Fe (11-1-31)
The ratio of the radiation resistance R, to the real part of the characteristic
impedance Zo of the microstrip line is equal to a small fraction of the power radiated
In of
from single open-circuit discontinuity. view Eq.(11-1-28), the radiation
a loss
decreases when the characteristic
substrates, is
impedance increases. levels.
For lower dielectric-constant
adiation radiation
significant at
higher impedance For higher dielectric
becomes significant until very low impedance levels
constant substrates,
are reached.

11-1-3 Quality Fector Q of Microstrip Lines

Many microwave integrated circuits require very high quality resonant circuits. The
quality factor Q of a microstrip line is very high, but it is limited by the radiation
losses of the substrates and with low dielectric constant. Recall that for uniform cur
rent the ohmic attenuation constant of a wide
distribulion
in the microstrip line,
crostrip line is given by Eq. (11-1-21) as
mi

8.686R dB/cm
Cow

and that the characteristic impedance of a wide microstrip line, as shown in Eq.
(11-1-9), is

The wavelength in the microstrip line is

(11-1-32)
Ve
wherefis the frequency in GHz.
Since Q. is related to the conductor attenuation constant by

22 (11-1-33)

where a, is in dB/A4 . O. of a wide microstrip line is expressed as

(11-1-34)

where h is measured in cm and R, is expressed as

/square. (11-1-35)
 Sec. 11.2 Parallel Strip Lines 485

Finally, the quality factor Q of a wide microstrip line is

. = 0.63h Vofom 36)
where a is the conductivity of the dielectric substrate board in U/m.
For a copper strip, a = 5.8 x 10'U/m and Q. becomes

Q 4780h Vfake (11-1-37)

For 25-mil alumina at 10 GHz, the maximum Q. achievable from wide microstrip
ines is 954 [13].
Similarly, a quality factor Qs is related to the dielectric attenuation constant:

(11-1-38)
a

where Substituting
a is in dB/A,
Eq. (11-1-20) into Eq. (11-1-38) yields

L (11-1-39)
V tan tano

where Ao is the free-space wavelength in cm. Note that the Q4 for the dielectric at
tenuation constant of a microstrip line is approximately the reciprocal of the diele
tric loss tangent 8 and is relatively constant with frequency.

11-2 PARALLEL STRIP LINES

A parallel strip line consists of two perfectly parallel strips separated by a perfect
dielectric slab of uniform thickness, as shown in Fig. 11-2-1. The plate width is w
the separation distance is d, and the relative dielectric constant of the slab is E

TIGondustorA
DieDir electric a
WWITYonductor Figure 11-2-1 Schematic diagram of a
parmllel strip line.
486 Strip Lines Chap. 1

11-2-1 Distributed Parameters

In a microwave integrated circuit a strip lince can be easily fabricated on a dielectric
by using A parallel
substrate printed-circuit techniques. stripline is similar to
two-conductor transmission line, so it can support a quasi-TEM mode. Consider a
a

TEM-mode wave propagating in the positive z direction in a lossless strip line

(R = G= 0). The clectric field is in the y direction, and the magnetic field is in the
x direction. If the width w is much larger than the separation distance d, the fringing
capacitance is negligible. Thus the equation for the inductance along the two con-
ducting strips can be written as

L H/m (11-2

where 4 is the permeability of the conductor. The capacitance between the two
conducting strips can be expressed as

C F/m (11-2-2)
d

where e is the permittivity of the dielectric slab.

If the two parallel strips have some surface resistance and the diclectric sub-
strate has some shunt conductance, however, the parallel stripline would have some
losses. The series resistance for both strips is given by

0/m (11-2-3)
where R, = V(7fu-)/o, is the conductor surface resistance in 2/square and o, is
the conductor conductivity in U/m. The shunt conductance of the strip line is

G= U/m (11-2.-4)
a
where o is the conductivity of the dielectric substrate.

11-2-2 Cheracteristic impedance

The characteristic impedance of a lossless parallel strip ine is

Tor w>d 11-2

w

The phase velocity along a parallel strip line is

m/s for4 o (11-2-6)

The characteristic impedance of a lossy parallel strip line at microwave frequencies

(R wL and GwC) can be approximated as
Sec. 11.2 Parallel Strip Lines

d for w d (11-2-7)
Ve w

11-23 Atenustion Losses

The propagation constant of a parallel strip line at microwave frequencies can be ex

pressed by
y V(R+_joLNG +joC) for RwL and G < »C

Vv)*v (11-2-8)
Thus the attenuation and phase constants are

Np/m (11-2-9)

and
B oVLC rad/m (11-2-10)
Substitution of the distributed parameters of a parallel strip line into Eq.(11-2-9
yields the attenuation constants for the conductor and dielectric losses:

and
- Np/m (11-2-11)

Np/m (11-2-12)

Example 11-2-1: Characteristics of a Parallel Strip Line

A lossless parallel The substrate
strip line has a conducting strip width w.
dielectric
separating the two conducting strips has a relative dielectric constant ¬ of 6 (beryllia
or beryllium oxide BeO) and a thickness d of 4 mm.

Calculate:

a. The required width w of the conducting strip in order to have a characteristic

impedance of 50 N
b. The strip-line capacitance
c. The strip-line inductance
d. The phase velocity of the wave in the parallel strip line

Solution

a. From Eq. (11-2-5) the width of the conducting strip is

 488 Strip Lines Chap. 11

w
377 d377 4x 10

12.31 x
10 m
b. The strip-line capacitance is

c E - 8.854 * 10 x6 x
12.31 x 101
d 4x 10
163.50 pf/m

C. The strip-line inductance is

L a= 47 x 10x 4 x 10
12.31 x 10
0.41 H/m

d. The phase velocity is

3 x 10

=
1.22 x 10 m/s

11-9 COPLANAR STRIP LINES

A coplanar trip line consists of two conducting strips on one substrate surface with
one strip grounded, as shown in Fig. 11-3-1. The coplanar strip line has advantages
over the conventional parallel strip line (see Section 11-2) because its two strips are
on the same substrate surface for convenient connections. In microwave integrated
circuits (MICs) the wire bonds have always presented reliability and reproducibility
problems. The coplanar strip lines eliminate the difficulties involved in connectin8
the shunt elements between the hot and ground strips. As a result, reliability is in-
creased, reproducibility is enhanced, and production cost is decreased.
The characteristic impedance of a coplanar strip line is

(11-3-1)

where lo is the total peak current in one strip and Pav is the average power fRowing in
the positive z direction. The average flowing power can be expressed as

Pa Re(E H)-u,dx d x (11-3-2)

where E, =clectric field intensity in the positive x direction

H, =magnetic field intensity in the positive y direction
conjugale
 Sec. 11.4 Shielded Strip Lines 489

atwsiwi
Figure 11-3-1 Schematic diagram of a
coplanar strip line.

Example 11-3-1: Characteristic Impedance of a Coplanar Strip Line

A coplanar strip line carries an average power of 250 mW and a peak current of
100 mA. Determine the characteristic impedance of the coplanar strip line.

Sohution From Eq. (11-3-1), the characteristic impedance of the coplanar strip line is

Z 2 * 250 x 10 50
(100 x 10

114 SHIELDED STRIP LINES

A partially shielded strip line has its strip conductor embedded in a dielectric
medium, and its top and bottom ground planes have no connection, as shown in Fig.
I1-4-1.

114-1 Partilly shielded strip

222222zzzannn74
Figure
line.

The characteristic impedance for a wide strip (w/d>0.35) [14] is

(11-4-1)

where KI- 1/d

the strip thickness
d = the distance between the two ground planes

C= [2K In (K + 1) - (K 1) In (K? 1)) and is the fringe capa-

citance in pF/m
490 Strip Lines Chap.

Figure 11-4-2 shows the characteristic impedance Zo for a partially shielded

strip line, with the t/d radio as a parameter.

L
200

80 60

25 se right hand
scale
N

0.0.1150
2020
025
00
Ue left c

0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.S 0.6 0.8 .0 2.0 ,0 4.0

Flgure 11-42 Characteristic impedance Z of a partially shielded strip line with

the t/d ratio as a parameter. Afier S. Con f14]; reprinted by permission of IEEE,
Inc.)

Example 1141: Characteristice Impedance of a Shiekded Strip Line

A shielded strip line has the following parameters:

Dielectric constant of the insulator

(polystyrene): , 22.56
Strip width: w 25 mils
Strip thickness:
14
d
mils
70 mils
Shield d pth:

Calculate:
a.TheK factor
b. The fringe capacitance
C. The characteristic impedance of the line.
 Chap. 11 References

Solution

a. Using Eq. (11-4-), the K factor is obtained:

- -(0 .25
b. From Eq. (11-4-1). the fringe capacitance is

8.854 x62x
2.56 1.25 In (1.25+ ) - (1.25 1) In (1.25 1)
3.1416
= 15.61 pF/m.

c. The characteristic impedance from Eq. (11-4-1) is

z 15,612:56
V2.56
S0.29 9

REFERENCES

1] LAo, S. Y., Engineering Applications of Electromagnetic Theory, Chapter 3. West Pub-

lishing Co., St. Paul, Minn, 1988.
(21 KaUPP., H. R., Characteristics of microstrip transmission lines. 1EEE Trans. on Elec
tronic Compulers, EC-16, No. 2, 185-193, April 1967.
13] WHEELER, H. A., Transmission-line properties of parallel strips separaled by a dielectric
sheet, IEEE Trans. on Microwave Theory and Technigues, MTT-3, No. 3. 172-185,
March 1965.
4] BRYANT, T. G., and J. A. WEISS, Parameters of microstrip transmission lines and of cou-
pled pairs of microstrip lines. IEEE Trans. on Microwave Theory and Techniques,
MTT-6, No,. 12, 1021-1027, December 1968.
I5] STINEHELFER, H. E., An accurate cakulation of uniform microstrip transmission lines.
IEEE Trans. on Microwave Theory and Techniques, MTT-16, No. 7, 439-443, July
1968.
(6) DIGIAcOMO. J. J., et al., "Design and Fabrication of Nanosecond Digital Equipment,"
RCA, March 1965.
171 SPRINGFIELD, A., Simplifed Theory of Microwave Transmission Systems, F. Assodourian
and E. Rimol. pp. 1651-1637, IRE Proceeding, December 1952.
[8] AssopoURIAN, F., and E. RIMOL, Simplified theory of mirowave transmission systems.
Proc. IRE 40, 1651-1657, December 1952.
191 WELCH, J. D., and H. J. PRATT, Losses in microstrip transmission systems for integratedd
microwave circuits, NEREM Rec., 8, 100-101, (1966).
[10] PuCEL, R. A.. D. J. MASSE, and C. P. HARTWIo, Losses in microstrip. IEEE Trans. on
Microwave Theory and Techniques. MTT-16, No. 6, 342-350, June 1968.
492 Strip LinesChap. 11

[11] PucEL, R. A., D. J. MASSE, and C. P. HARTWIG, Correction to "Losses in microstrip."

Trans. on Microwave Theory and Techniques, MTT-16, No. 12, 1064, December
TEEE
1968.
[12] LEwIN, L.. Radiation from Discontinuities in Strip-Line, IEEE Monograph No. 358EE
February 1960.
[13) VENDEIINE, G. D., Limitations on stripline 0. Microwave J.. 63-69, May 1970.
[14] CoHN, S., Characteristic impedance of the shielded-strip transmission line. IRE Trans.
on Microwave Theory and Techniques, MTT-2, No. 7, 52, July 1954.

PROBLEMS

Microstrip Lines

l1-1. A microstrip line has the following parameters:

, 5.23 and is the relative dielectric constant of the fiberglass board material
h 0.8 mils
I 2.8 mils
w= 10 mils

Write a FORTRAN program to complete the characteristic impedance Zo of the line.

Use a READ statement to read in the input values, the F10. format for numerical
outputs, and the Hollerith format for character outputs.
1-2. only quasi-transverse electric and magnetic
Since modes on microstrip lines are
(TEM), the theory of TEM-coupled lines applies only approximately. From the basic
theory of a lossless line, show that the inductance L and capacitance C of a microstrip
line are

and

CZo Zoc
where Z characteristic impedance of the micrOstrip line
wave velocity in the microstrip line
C 3 X 1 0m/s, the velocity of light in vacuum
,relative dielectric constant of the board material
11-3. is
A microstrip line constructed of a perfect conductor and a
lossless dielectric board.
The relative dselectric constant of the fiberglass.-epoxy board is 5.23, and the line
characteristic impedance is 50 . Calculate the line inductance and the line capaci
tance.
I14. A is
microstrip line constructed of a
copper conductor and nylon phenolic board. The
relative dielectric constant of the board material is 4.19, measured at 25 GHz, and its
thickness is 0.4836 mm (19 mils). 1The line width is 0.635 mm (25 mils), and the line
thickness is 0.071 mm (2.8 mils). Calculate the
Chap. 11 Problems S3

a. Characteristic impedance Zo of the microstrip line

b. Dielectric filling factor
C.d. Surface
DielectriCskinattenuation constant a
resistivity R, of the copper conductor at 25 GHz
e. Conductor attenuation constant a
1-5. A microstrip line is made of a copper conductor 0.254 mm (10 mils) wide on a G-10
fiberglass -epoxy board 0.20 mm (8 mils) in height. The relative dielectric constant
the is 4.8, 25
of board material used measured at GHz. The microstrip line 0.035-mm
to the
(1.4 mils) thick is be for 10 GHz. Determine
a. Characteristic impedance Z, of the microstrip line
b. Surface resistivity R, of the copper conductor
c. Conductor attenualion consiant de
d. Diclectric attenuation constant a
e. Quality factors Q, and Q4

Parallel Striplines
I1-6. A gold parallel stripline has the following parameters
Rclative diclectric constant of teflon: 2.
Strip width: W 26 mm

Separation distance: d smm

Conductivity of gold: , 4 . 1 x 10' U/mn

Frequency f= 10 GHz

Determine the
. Surface resistance of the gold stripP,
b. Characteristic impedance of the strip line
C. Phase velocity
11-7. A gold parallel strip line has the following paramelers:

E 2.25
Relative diclectrie constant of
Strip width:
polyethylene
w25 mm
Separalion distance: d 5 mmm

Cakulate the
a. Characteristic impedance of the strip line
b. Strip-line capacitance
c. Strip-line inductance
d. Phase velocity

Coplanar Strip Lines

118. A 50-N coplanar strip line has the following parameters:

Relative dielectric constant of alumina: 10

Strip width:
w4 mm
Strip thicknes Imm
494 Strip ines Chap.

TEM-mode ield intensities: E, =

3.16 x
10 sin
H, 63.20 s i n e

Find the
. Average power flow
b. Peak current in one strip
I1-9. A shielded stripline has the following parameters:

Relative dielectric constant of the

insulator polyethylene: 2.25
Strip width: w 2 mm

Strip thickness: t0.5mm

Shield depth: d 4 mm
Caculate the
a. K factor
b. Fringe capacitance
C. Characteristic impedance

l1-10. A shielded strip line is made of a gold strip in a polystyrene dielectric insulator and
has the following paramelers:

Relative dielectric constant of

polystyrene: 2.56

Strip width: w 0.7 mm

Strip thickness: 1 4 mm
Shield depth: d= 3.5 mm

Determine the
a. K factor
b. Fringe capacitance
C. Characteristic impedance