Vicente E. Boria

Waveguide filters for satellites

This article describes the historical evolution, and its theoretical and technological features of waveguide filters. All-metal waveguide filters have been widely used in satellite payloads since the advent of the first space communication systems four decades ago. In this period, such technology has been continuously evolving due to the increasing requirements demanded to these components. Special attention has also been paid to present the most recent advances in the development of CAD tools for satellite filters, which are based on full-wave electromagnetic analysis methods. Finally, the compact solutions for the input and output stages of satellite payloads are focused on, thus considering the evanescent mode waveguide filter technology.

Efficient modal analysis of arbitrarily shaped waveguides composed of linear, circular, and elliptical arcs using the BI-RME method

This paper deals with the accurate and efficient modal analysis of arbitrarily shaped waveguides whose cross section is defined by a combination of straight, circular, and/or elliptical arcs. A novel technique for considering the presence of circular and/or elliptical segments within the frame of the well-known boundary integral-resonant mode expansion (BI-RME) method is proposed. This new extended BI-RME method will allow a more accurate solution of a wider number of hollow conducting waveguides with arbitrary profiles, which are usually present in most modern passive waveguide components. To show the advantages of this new extended technique, the modal chart of canonical (circular and elliptical) waveguides, as well as of irises with great practical interest (i.e., cross-shaped irises with rounded corners) has been first successfully solved. Next, a computer-aided-design software package based on such a novel modal analysis tool has first been validated with the accurate analysis of a referenced complex dual-mode filter, and then applied to the complete design of a novel twist component for K-band application based on circular and elliptical waveguides. A prototype of this novel device has been manufactured and measured for verification purposes.

A new hybrid mode-matching/numerical method for the analysis of arbitrarily shaped inductive obstacles and discontinuities in rectangular waveguides

A new and efficient hybrid mode-matching method is presented for the analysis of arbitrarily shaped inductive obstacles and/or discontinuities in a rectangular waveguide. The irregular region with obstacles and/or discontinuities is characterized using a full-wave hybrid spectral/numerical open-space technique expanding the fields in cylindrical wave functions. Next, a full-wave mode-matching procedure is used to match the cylindrical wave functions to guided modes in all ports and a generalized scattering matrix for the structure is finally obtained. The obstacles can be metallic or dielectric with complex permittivities and arbitrary geometries. The structure presents an arbitrary number of ports, each one with different orientation and dimensions. The accuracy of the method is validated comparing with results for several complex problems found in the literature. CPU times are also included to show the efficiency of the new method.

Compact CPW-Fed Combline Filter in Substrate Integrated Waveguide Technology

In this letter, the design and experimental results of compact low loss combline filters, based on the extension of the classical coaxial waveguide resonator to Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) technology, are succesfully demonstrated. A three-pole 5% FBW Chebyshev filter has been designed, fabricated and measured. The fabricated device shows an excellent agreement with simulated results. These structures keep the low-cost fabrication scheme of single-layer PCB processing, while requiring less than half the area compared to a conventional SIW design.

Novel Empty Substrate Integrated Waveguide for High-Performance Microwave Integrated Circuits

Over the last years, a great number of substrate integrated circuits has been developed. These new circuits are a compromise between the advantages of classical waveguide technologies, such as high quality factor and low losses, and the advantages of planar circuits, such as low cost and easy compact integration. Although their quality factor and losses are better than for planar circuits, these characteristics are worse than in the case of waveguides, mainly due to the presence of the dielectric substrate. In order to improve the performance of the integrated circuits, a new methodology for manufacturing empty waveguides, without a dielectric substrate, but at the same time completely integrated in a planar substrate, is proposed in this work. A wideband transition with return losses greater than 20 dB in the whole bandwith of the waveguide allows the integration of the empty waveguide into the planar substrate so that the waveguide can be directly accessed with a microstrip line. Therefore, a microwave circuit integrated in a planar substrate, but at the same time with a very high quality factor (measured quality factor is 4.5 times higher than for the same filter in the substrate integrated waveguide), and very low losses is successfully achieved.

Experimental evidence of left handed transmission through arrays of ferromagnetic microwires

Experimental evidence of left-handed transmission is demonstrated through an array of ferromagnetic microwires. We used amorphous magnetic microwires to take advantage of both electric and magnetic responses locally generating a double negative medium at microwave frequencies, where the ferromagnetic resonance effects take place. The dilution of the responses of the ferromagnetic material provided by the organization of the microstructure in the form of an array provides a means of synthesizing a tailored response to electromagnetic radiation. Finally, transmission characteristics of the analyzed array can be tuned as a function of the applied external magnetic field.

Experimental Analysis of Passive Intermodulation at Waveguide Flange Bolted Connections

In this paper, the generation of passive intermodulation at rectangular waveguide flange bolted connections is investigated. An exhaustive series of tests has been performed in order to provide understanding on the physics lying behind such a phenomenon. In particular, the intermodulation response of the system has been studied as a function of the applied torque to the flange screws. It has been found that, in some situations, the intermodulation response differs from its expected behavior. An interpretation of such discrepancies is given, and practical guidelines for the design of waveguide flanges free of passive intermodulation are provided as well

Design of Ultra-Wideband Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) Filters in Zigzag Topology

In this letter we propose a modified substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) zigzag filter topology, which allows the flexible introduction of extra cross-couplings between non adjacent resonators. This novel topology permits to control the location of the transmission zeros, thus improving the resulting filter selectivity. Therefore, it has been used to design filters in compliance with the restrictive ultra-wideband European mask. In order to validate the new proposed topology, two filter prototypes have been designed, manufactured and measured, showing very good agreement with simulation data.

Design and experimental verification of backward-wave propagation in periodic waveguide structures

Experimental results for the demonstration of backward-wave or double-negative (DNG) propagation in waveguide technology combining inductive windows and split-ring resonators are presented and discussed in depth. A novel segmented prototype has been designed, fabricated, and measured, thus allowing the analysis and discussion of different length structures. The experimental characterization proves the DNG nature of the devices by comparing the phase of the transmission coefficient S/sub 21/ for different length structures. Dielectric and metallic losses linked to the resonators also limit the transmission levels of these very compact structures in the longitudinal dimension, and the sources of such losses are interpreted through the comparison of measured results with full-wave electromagnetic simulations.

Prediction of Multipactor Breakdown Thresholds in Coaxial Transmission Lines for Traveling, Standing, and Mixed Waves

In this paper, we present a numerical model for predicting the multipactor breakdown effect in coaxial transmission lines. To validate this method, we have first compared our results with numerical data from other theoretical studies and with experimental measurements. Then, we have investigated the multipactor phenomena in coaxial lines considering three kinds of RF signals: traveling, standing, and mixed waves. From this paper, we conclude that different breakdown thresholds are obtained for any of the considered RF excitations under high values of frequency times gap product. This effect is attributed to the existence of regions with zero (or very low levels) electric field amplitude in the propagation direction, where electrons are absorbed before the discharge occurs.