Low-Cost Narrowed Dielectric Microstrip Line- A Three-Layer Dielectric Waveguide Using PCB Technology for Millimeter-Wave Applications

• Published in: IEEE transactions on microwave theory and techniques Vol. 65; no. 1; pp. 119 - 127
• Main Authors: Hao-Tian Zhu, Quan Xue, Shao-Wei Liao, Pang, Stella W., Leung Chiu, Qing-Yuan Tang, Xing-Hai Zhao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.01.2017; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Dielectric constant; Dielectric transmission line; Dielectric waveguides; effective dielectric constant (EDC); Fabrication; Low cost; Metals; Microstrip; Microstrip transmission lines; Millimeter waves; millimeter-wave (mmW); narrowed dielectric microstrip line (N-DML); Optical waveguides; Phase constants; printed circuit board (PCB) fabrication technology; Propagation losses; Rectangular waveguides; Substrates; Transmission lines
• ISSN: 0018-9480; 1557-9670
• DOI: 10.1109/TMTT.2016.2613527

We investigated a dielectric transmission line consisting of three dielectric substrate layers for millimeter-wave (mmW) applications. This line is referred to as a narrowed dielectric microstrip line (N-DML). The effective dielectric constant method is used to analyze the propagation characteristics of the N-DML. The result of the analysis of the normalized phase constant is consistent with the simulation. For demonstration, two J -band N-DML prototypes of different lengths with transitions to rectangular waveguides were designed, fabricated, and measured. Good agreement between the simulated and measured results is observed. In particular, due to its nonmetal structure, the N-DML shows a low average attenuation constant of only 0.52 dB/cm over 220-280 GHz in the experiment. Due to its good performance, ease of fabrication, low loss, and low cost, the N-DML is a suitable candidate for various mmW applications.