Highly Reliable and Repeatable Soldering Technique for Assembling Empty Substrate Integrated Waveguide Devices

[EN] In this paper, a novel mymargin soldering technique that improves the fabrication process of empty substrate integrated waveguide (ESIW) devices is presented. Up until now, in order to fabricate an ESIW device, the tin solder paste was distributed, before assembling, on the contact surface between layers, in order to ensure a good electrical contact. This process has a low degree of repeatability (random soldering thickness and distribution of tin) and reliability (a significant number of nonworking prototypes due to tin overflow). In this paper, we propose the mechanization of a set of plated vias just next to the metalized walls of the ESIW in the central layer. Next, in the top and bottom covers that close this ESIW, additional plated vias are drilled in the same position so that, when the device is assembled (using screws or rivets), metalized holes can be seen passing through the whole structure from top to bottom. These holes are then used as soldering vias that can guide the tin paste straight to the point where it is needed. When the paste is dried, soldered vias ensure a very good electrical contact between layers. In addition, the fluid tin fills any small gap that appears between layers, thus providing a very good electrical contact and mechanical union. This novel soldering technique has been validated with experimental results. Several prototypes of filters centered at 13 and 35 GHz have been fabricated, proving the repeatability and reliability of the proposed soldering technique.This work was supported by the Ministerio de Economiy Competitividad, Spanish Government, under Project TEC2016-75934-C4-3-R and Project TEC2016-75934-C4-1-R.Martinez, JA.; Belenguer, A.; Esteban González, H. (2019). Highly Reliable and Repeatable Soldering Technique for Assembling Empty Substrate Integrated Waveguide Devices. IEEE Transactions on Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technology (Online). 9(11):2276-2281. https://doi.org/10.1109/TCPMT.2019.2915688S2276228191

Fast Frequency Sweep Technique Based on Segmentation for the Acceleration of the Electromagnetic Analysis of Microwave Devices

[EN] The characterization of communication devices in a certain frequency band can be accelerated if a fast frequency sweep technique is used instead of a discrete frequency sweep. Existing fast frequency sweep techniques are either complex or specific for a certain electromagnetic solver. In this work, a new fast frequency sweep method is proposed that consists in segmenting the device under analysis into simple building blocks. Each building block is characterized with a generalized (multimode) circuital matrix whose elements present a simple and flat frequency response that is interpolated using natural cubic splines with very few points. In this way, the response of each block along the whole frequency band is obtained efficiently and accurately with as many frequency points as desired. Then, the circuital matrices of all the blocks are cascaded and the circuital matrix of the whole device in obtained. The new fast frequency sweep was successfully applied to the analysis of different types of devices (all metallic rectangular waveguide filter, dielectric loaded rectangular waveguide filter, and substrate integrated waveguide filter). The computational times were reduced to 15% or 19%, depending on the device, when compared with a discrete frequency sweep using the same electromagnetic solver.This research was funded by Ministerio de Economia, Industria y Competitividad, Spanish Government, under Research Projects TEC2016-75934-C4-3-R and TEC2016-75934-C4-1-R.Martínez-Zamora, JÁ.; Belenguer Martínez, A.; Esteban González, H. (2019). Fast Frequency Sweep Technique Based on Segmentation for the Acceleration of the Electromagnetic Analysis of Microwave Devices. Applied Sciences. 9(6):1-16. https://doi.org/10.3390/app9061118S11696Erdemli, Y. E., Reddy, C. J., & Volakis, J. L. (1999). Awe Technique in Frequency Domain Electromagnetics. Journal of Electromagnetic Waves and Applications, 13(3), 359-378. doi:10.1163/156939399x00961Reddy, C. J., Deshpande, M. D., Cockrell, C. R., & Beck, F. B. (1998). Fast RCS computation over a frequency band using method of moments in conjunction with asymptotic waveform evaluation technique. IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, 46(8), 1229-1233. doi:10.1109/8.718579Polstyanko, S. V., Dyezij-Edlinger, R., & Jin-Fa Lee. (1997). Fast frequency sweep technique for the efficient analysis of dielectric waveguides. IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, 45(7), 1118-1126. doi:10.1109/22.598450Chiprout, E., & Nakhla, M. S. (1995). Analysis of interconnect networks using complex frequency hopping (CFH). IEEE Transactions on Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems, 14(2), 186-200. doi:10.1109/43.370425Gustavsen, B., & Semlyen, A. (1999). Rational approximation of frequency domain responses by vector fitting. IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, 14(3), 1052-1061. doi:10.1109/61.772353Bandler, J. W., Biernacki, R. M., Shao Hua Chen, & Ya Fei Huang. (1997). Design optimization of interdigital filters using aggressive space mapping and decomposition. IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, 45(5), 761-769. doi:10.1109/22.575598Ros, J. V. M., Pacheco, P. S., Gonzalez, H. E., Esbert, V. E. B., Martin, C. B., Calduch, M. T., … Martinez, B. G. (2005). Fast automated design of waveguide filters using aggressive space mapping with a new segmentation strategy and a hybrid optimization algorithm. IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, 53(4), 1130-1142. doi:10.1109/tmtt.2005.845685Alos, J. T., & Guglielmi, M. (1997). Simple and effective EM-based optimization procedure for microwave filters. IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, 45(5), 856-858. doi:10.1109/22.575610Bachiller, C., Gonzalez, H. E., Boria Esbert, V. E., Belenguer Martinez, A., & Morro, J. V. (2007). Efficient Technique for the Cascade Connection of Multiple Two-Port Scattering Matrices. IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, 55(9), 1880-1886. doi:10.1109/tmtt.2007.904076Interpolación de Splineshttps://www.uv.es/diaz/mn/node40.htmlBachiller, C., Esteban, H., Mata, H., Valdes, M. Á., Boria, V. E., Belenguer, Á., & Morro, J. V. (2010). Hybrid Mode Matching Method for the Efficient Analysis of Metal and Dielectric Rods in H Plane Rectangular Waveguide Devices. IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques. doi:10.1109/tmtt.2010.208395

Compact Folded Bandpass Filter in Empty Substrate Integrated Coaxial Line at S-Band

© 2019 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permissíon from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertisíng or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.[EN] This letter presents a novel compact folded bandpass filter in empty substrate integrated coaxial line (ESICL) technology. To obtain these compact filters, the inverters are modified to provide a 180 degrees bend when inserted in an ESICL. As a result, the proposed filter has a more compact topology based on parallel resonators. A sixth-order Chebyshev bandpass filter operating at 3 GHz has been designed, manufactured, and measured to experimentally validate this new folded configuration. The length of the novel compact filter has been reduced by 82.2% with respect to an equivalent in-line filter, obtaining very similar results in terms of electrical response.This work was supported in part by the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad, Spanish Government through Research Projects under Grant TEC2016-75934-C4-3-R and Grant TEC2016-75934-C4-1-R and in part by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades through the Fellowship Program for Training University Professors.Martinez, L.; Belenguer, A.; Boria Esbert, VE.; Borja, AL. (2019). Compact Folded Bandpass Filter in Empty Substrate Integrated Coaxial Line at S-Band. IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters. 29(5):315-317. https://doi.org/10.1109/LMWC.2019.2909178S31531729

Design and Performance of a High-Q Narrow Bandwidth Bandpass Filter in Empty Substrate Integrated Coaxial Line at Ku-Band

[EN] This letter presents the design and performance of a planar narrow bandwidth bandpass filter with high quality factor. The structure is composed of an empty substrate integrated coaxial line with the center conductor suspended in air. The component dimensions have been calculated by means of classical microwave filter design theory. The filter has been manufactured using standard printed circuit board fabrication processes. A measured insertion loss of 1.59 dB, 2.93% fractional bandwidth, and a Q-factor of 1505 have been obtained at 15 GHz. A Q-factor comparison with other substrate and empty substrate integrated technologies shows the advantages of the solution considered in this letter. The proposed filter proves to be suitable for the implementation of integrated microwave or millimeterwave subsystems with severe restrictions, i.e., low in-band losses, very narrow bandpass responses, low frequency dispersion, high out-of-band rejection, and low manufacturing cost.This work was supported by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion, Spanish Goverment, under Project TEC2016-75934-C4-X-R and Project TEC2016-75934-C4-1-R.Lucas Borja, A.; Belenguer, A.; Esteban González, H.; Boria Esbert, VE. (2017). Design and Performance of a High-Q Narrow Bandwidth Bandpass Filter in Empty Substrate Integrated Coaxial Line at Ku-Band. IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters. 27(11):977-979. https://doi.org/10.1109/LMWC.2017.2750118S977979271

Extending the cascading by pairs of multiport generalised scattering matrices for characterizing the connected ports

An extension to the traditional technique for cascading generalized scattering matrices (GSMs) by pairs is presented. It can solve the connection of an arbitrary number of networks, with an arbitrary number of ports, while being quite intuitive and easy to implement. It is able to compute, not only the response at the free ports of the global network -like the traditional cascading-by-pairs does- but also the connected ports, obtaining an extended GSM (eGSM), which can be used to find the field inside the full network for an arbitrary incidence.Díaz Caballero, E.; Belenguer, A.; Esteban González, H.; Boria Esbert, VE. (2014). Extending the cascading by pairs of multiport generalised scattering matrices for characterizing the connected ports. IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters. 24(11):733-735. doi:10.1109/LMWC.2014.2348181S733735241

Highly Versatile Coplanar Waveguide Line With Electronically Reconfigurable Bandwidth and Propagation Characteristics

[EN] This paper describes a coplanar waveguide coupled to two split-ring resonators that, in turn, are loaded with two different reactive elements. By these means, balanced composite right/left-handed-like (CRLH-like) and also dual balanced CRLH-like (D-CRLH-like) responses can be obtained with the same structure showing opposite propagation characteristics. This behavior is achieved by simply varying one of the reactive elements, i.e., the capacitive or inductive load. The physical behavior of these transmission lines has been successfully explained by means of a single equivalent circuit. Besides, the proposed transmission lines have an extended bandwidth due to the balanced nature of the structure. The bandwidth of these lines can be electronically controlled using varactor diodes reverse-biased by an external dc voltage. Thus, a reconfigurable cell with CRLH-like and D-CRLH-like propagation has been designed and manufactured. The simulated and measured results show fractional bandwidths from 0% (no transmission) to 9.3% for simulations and from 0% (no transmission) to 8.7% for measurements. Undoubtedly, these new proposed transmission lines will be useful for designing reconfigurable devices that can be used in future communication systems such as radar, wireless applications, global positioning systems, or radio-frequency identification systems, among others.This work was supported by the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad, Spanish Government, under Research Project TEC2013-47037-C05-3-R and Research Project TEC2013-47037-C05-1-R and by the Ministerio de Educacion, Cultura y Deporte under the Fellowship Program for Training University Professors.Martinez Cano, L.; Lucas Borja, A.; Boria Esbert, VE.; Belenguer, A. (2017). Highly Versatile Coplanar Waveguide Line With Electronically Reconfigurable Bandwidth and Propagation Characteristics. IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques. 65(1):128-135. https://doi.org/10.1109/TMTT.2016.2613526S12813565

Empty Substrate Integrated Waveguide Slot Antenna Array for 5G Applications

This paper introduces a linear slot antenna array based on an empty substrate integrated waveguide at 28 GHz. The proposed antenna offers the advantages of reduced weight and fabrication cost as well as facilitates relatively easier integration with planar electronic components as compared to conventional slotted waveguide antenna arrays. A high gain and efficiency and low losses are major considerations which can be achieved by the proposed design when compared to the substrate integrated waveguide slot antenna array. The proposed antenna geometry suggests an operating bandwidth of 10.4% (i.e. 26.5- 29.4 GHz) suitable to fulfil 5G demands with high gain performance of 11.6 dBi at 28GHz

A 3-D Printed PCB Integrated TEM Horn Antenna

[EN] This paper presents a very broadband (5-40 GHz) novel three dimension (3-D) printed Transverse ElectroMagnetic (TEM) horn antenna. It is integrated with a planar Printed Circuit Board and radiates in a perpendicular direction of the Printed Circuit Board. The described antenna provides benefits in terms of cost and size for a two dimensional antenna array. Here the antenna and its corresponding transition to a regular 50 Omega microstrip line through Parallel Plate Waveguide and a 90 degrees bend are presented. Prototypes of back-to-back transitions and antenna are fabricated and measured. The antenna has a return loss below -10 dB and a gain of approximately 10 dBi over the targeted frequency range.Miralles-Navarro, E.; Shoenlinner, B.; Belenguer Martínez, A.; Esteban González, H.; Ziegler, V. (2019). A 3-D Printed PCB Integrated TEM Horn Antenna. Radio Science. 54(1):158-165. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018RS006594S158165541Ahmed, A., Zhang, Y., Burns, D., Huston, D., & Xia, T. (2016). Design of UWB Antenna for Air-Coupled Impulse Ground-Penetrating Radar. IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, 13(1), 92-96. doi:10.1109/lgrs.2015.2498404Garcia, C. R., Rumpf, R. C., Tsang, H. H., & Barton, J. H. (2013). Effects of extreme surface roughness on 3D printed horn antenna. Electronics Letters, 49(12), 734-736. doi:10.1049/el.2013.1528Gianesello , F. Bisognin , A. Titz , D. Luxey , C. Fernandes , C. A. Costa , J. R. Gloria , D. 2016 55 56Holloway, C. L., & Kuester, E. F. (2000). Power loss associated with conducting and superconducting rough interfaces. IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, 48(10), 1601-1610. doi:10.1109/22.873886Liang, M., Shemelya, C., MacDonald, E., Wicker, R., & Xin, H. (2015). 3-D Printed Microwave Patch Antenna via Fused Deposition Method and Ultrasonic Wire Mesh Embedding Technique. IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters, 14, 1346-1349. doi:10.1109/lawp.2015.2405054Liang , M. Yu , X. Shemelya , C. MacDonald , E. Xin , H. 2015 “3D printed multilayer MSL structure with vertical transition toward integrated systems" 2015 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium 1 4Local motors 2017 3D Printed Car Close-up Look, Mouser's Strati @ Westec 2017 https://localmotors.com/3d-printed-car/Malherbe , J. A. G. 2012 “Hybrid elliptic TEM horn with symmetric main beam" 15th International Symposium on 2012 Toulouse in Antenna Technology and Applied Electromagnetics (ANTEM), FR 1 4Nayeri, P., Liang, M., Sabory-Garcia, R. A., Tuo, M., Yang, F., Gehm, M., … Elsherbeni, A. Z. (2014). 3D Printed Dielectric Reflectarrays: Low-Cost High-Gain Antennas at Sub-Millimeter Waves. IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, 62(4), 2000-2008. doi:10.1109/tap.2014.2303195Petrick, I. J., & Simpson, T. W. (2013). 3D Printing Disrupts Manufacturing: How Economies of One Create New Rules of Competition. Research-Technology Management, 56(6), 12-16. doi:10.5437/08956308x5606193Shemelya , C. Zemba , M. Liang , M. Espalin , D. Kief , C. Xin , H. Wicker , R. B. MacDonald , E. W. 2015 “3D printing multi-functionality: Embedded RF antennas and components" 2015 9th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP) 1 5Tavik, G. C., Hilterbrick, C. L., Evins, J. B., Alter, J. J., Crnkovich, J. G., de Graaf, J. W., … Hagewood, S. M. (2005). The advanced multifunction RF concept. IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, 53(3), 1009-1020. doi:10.1109/tmtt.2005.843485Tomlin , M. Meyer , J. 2011 “Topology optimization of an additive layer manufactured (ALM) aerospace part" The 7th Altair Technology Conference 2011 1 9Wheeler, H. A. (1965). Transmission-Line Properties of Parallel Strips Separated by a Dielectric Sheet. IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, 13(2), 172-185. doi:10.1109/tmtt.1965.11259623DPrint.com. The Voice of 3D Printing/ Additive Manufacturing 2016 3D printed house https://3dprint.com/tag/3d-printed-house

Cross-guide Moreno directional coupler in empty substrate integrated waveguide

Substrate integrated waveguides (SIWs) combine the advantages of rectangular waveguides (low losses) and planar circuits (low cost and low profile). Empty substrate integrated waveguide (ESIW) has been proposed as a novel configuration in SIWs recently. This technology significantly reduces the losses of conventional SIW by removing its inner dielectric. The cross-guide directional coupler is a well-known low-profile design for having a broadband waveguide coupler. In this paper a cross-guide coupler with ESIW technique is proposed. In such a manner, the device can be integrated with microwave circuits and other printed circuit board components. It is the first time that a cross-guide coupler is implemented in ESIW technology. The designed, fabricated, and measured device presents good results as a matter of insertion loss of 1 dB (including transitions), reflection under 20 dB, coupling between 19.5 and 21.5 dB, and directivity higher than 15 dB over targeted frequency range from 12.4 GHz to 18 GHz. The coupler implemented in ESIW improves the directivity when compared to similar solutions in other empty substrate integrated waveguide solutions