Sangwook Nam

Design of low-pass filters using defected ground structure

A method to design low-pass filters (LPF) having a defected ground structure (DGS) and broadened transmission-line elements is proposed. The previously presented technique for obtaining a three-stage LPF using DGS by Lim et al. is generalized to propose a method that can be applied in design N-pole LPFs for N/spl les/5. As an example, a five-pole LPF having a DGS is designed and measured. Accurate curve-fitting results and the successive design process to determine the required size of the DGS corresponding to the LPF prototype elements are described. The proposed LPF having a DGS, called a DGS-LPF, includes transmission-line elements with very low impedance instead of open stubs in realizing the required shunt capacitance. Therefore, open stubs, teeor cross-junction elements, and high-impedance line sections are not required for the proposed LPF, while they all have been essential in conventional LPFs. Due to the widely broadened transmission-line elements, the size of the DGS-LPF is compact.

A 4.1 unequal Wilkinson power divider

This letter presents the design and measured performances of a microstrip 4:1 unequal Wilkinson power divider. The divider is designed using the conventional Wilkinson topology with the defected ground structure (DGS). The DGS on the ground plane provides an additional effective inductive component to the microstrip line. This enables the microstrip line to be realized with very high impedance of over 150 /spl Omega/. By employing the DGS to the unequal Wilkinson topology, 4:1 power dividing ratio can be obtained easily without any problem in realization, while it has been impractical to fabricate a 4:1 divider using the conventional microstrip line because of very thin conductor width and extremely low aspect ratio (W/H). As an example, a 4:1 divider has been designed and measured at 1.5 GHz in order to show the validity of the proposed DGS and unequal divider. The measured performances of the 4:1 unequal power divider well agree with the exactly same dividing ratio as that expected.

Application of defected ground structure in reducing the size of amplifiers

This letter presents a new technique to reduce the size of microwave amplifiers using a defected ground structure (DGS). The DGS on the ground plane of a microstrip line provides an additional effective inductive component, which enables a microstrip line with very high impedance to be realized and shows slow-wave characteristics. The resultant electrical length of the microstrip line with DGS is longer than that of a conventional line for the same physical length. Therefore, the microstrip line with DGS can be shortened in order to maintain the same electrical length, matching, and performances of the basic (original) amplifier. To confirm the validity of this idea, two amplifiers, one of which is designed using a conventional microstrip line and the other is reduced using DGS, are fabricated, measured, and compared. The performance of the reduced amplifier with DGS is quite similar to that of the basic amplifier, even though the series microstrip lines with DGS are much smaller than those of the basic amplifier by 53.8% and 55.6% at input and output matching networks, respectively.

A spiral-shaped defected ground structure for coplanar waveguide

The authors present a spiral-shaped defected ground structure for coplanar waveguides (DGSCPW), which can be used as a kind of periodic structure for a planar transmission line. The proposed spiral-DGSCPW adopts spiral-shaped defects on both ground planes of CPW. Due to the spiral-shaped defects, the equivalent shunt inductance and slow-wave effects increase more rapidly than the standard CPW or CPW lines combined with the conventional PBG. The modeling and analysis to extract the equivalent circuit, increased slow-wave factor, and simulated and measured performances are presented.

Electromagnetic Shielding Effectiveness of Multifunctional Metal Composite Fabrics

The growth of the electronic industry and the widespread use of electronic equipment in communications, computations, automations, bio-medicine, space, and other purposes have led to many electromagnetic interference (EMI) problems as systems operate in close proximity. It is likely to become more severe in the future, unless proper EMI control methodology and techniques are used to meet the electromagnetic compatibility requirements. This article presents a comprehensive review of EMI shielding theory and materials. Furthermore, a method for fabricating a multifunctional metal composite fabric with electromagnetic (EM) shielding characteristics was successfully developed. The parameters influencing EM shielding properties of the metal composite fabrics were investigated. It was shown that the EM shielding effectiveness of the metal composite fabrics could be tailored by modifying the metal grid size and geometry.

Investigation of Adaptive Matching Methods for Near-Field Wireless Power Transfer

Adaptive matching methods for a wireless power transfer system in the near-field region are investigated. The impedance and resonant frequency characteristic of a near-field power transfer system are analyzed according to coupling distance. In the near-field region, adaptive matching is necessary to achieve an effective power transfer. We compare the power transfer efficiencies of several schemes including simultaneous conjugate matching and frequency tracking. It is found that effective adaptive matching can be easily achieved by tracking the split resonant frequency. In addition, a modified frequency tracking method is proposed to extend the range over which the power is transmitted with high efficiency. The experimental results are in agreement with the theoretical results.

A power amplifier with efficiency improved using defected ground structure

The authors report the effects of defected ground structure (DGS) on the output power and efficiency of a class-A power amplifier. In order to evaluate the effects of DGS on the efficiency and output power, two class-A GaAs FET amplifiers have been measured at 4.3/spl sim/4.7 GHz. One of them has a 50 /spl Omega/ microstrip line with DGS at the output section, while the other has only 50 /spl Omega/ straight line. It is shown that DGS rejects the second harmonic at the output and yields improved output power and power added efficiency by 1/spl sim/5%.

Fundamental Aspects of Near-Field Coupling Small Antennas for Wireless Power Transfer

A physical limitation on the power transfer efficiency between two electrically small antennas in the near-field range is presented. By using a Z-parameter which describes the interaction between two antennas for spherical modes in connection with antenna parameters, the maximum power transfer efficiency and the optimum load impedance are shown as functions of the distance between two antennas, the radiation efficiency and the input impedance of the isolated antenna. The theory is verified by a simulation with a small helical antenna, which generates and modes, simultaneously.

A novel phase noise reduction technique in oscillators using defected ground structure

A new technique to reduce the phase noise in microwave oscillators is developed using the resonant characteristic of the defected ground structure (DGS). Two kinds of oscillators have been designed and measured for the examination of the reduction of phase noise by the DGS. The first adopts the DGS section under the microstrip line at the gate circuit, while the second has only the conventional microstrip line. Measurement shows reduced phase noise by 10-15 dB in the oscillator with the DGS compared to the conventional one.

A compact-size microstrip spiral resonator and its application to microwave oscillator

This letter presents a compact size microstrip spiral resonator and its application to a low phase noise oscillator. This resonator has stopband characteristics to be used in the series feedback oscillator topology. The whole circuit area of the proposed resonator is within 1/10 wavelength, which results in the reduction of the circuit area and cost. A 10-GHz oscillator incorporated with this resonator was designed, fabricated and measured. It shows low phase noise performance of -95.4-dBc/Hz at 100 kHz offset.