Simulation of Skin and Proximity Effects using Maxwell 2-D

simulator














2

Summary


1. Introduction 3
2. Methodology 3
3. Simulation 3
4. Results and discussion 5
5. Conclusion 9
6. References 9
















3

1. Introduction
This work has the objective of analyze the skin effect in a microstrip line using Maxwell 2-D
simulator. The resistance and inductance of the line are analyzed by simulation and analytical
results for some points between frequencies 1 Hz and 1 GHz. Moreover, the current distribution
is shown at frequencies 1 Hz, 1 MHz and 1 GHz.

2. Methodology
Skin effect is a phenomenon in which the field intensity in a conductor rapidly decreases,
because the fields and currents keep contained in a thin layer of the material surface called skin
depth that can be obtained by:

(1)
Where is the frequency, is the permeability of the medium and is the conductivity. At
this distance, the amplitude wave decays 1/e and can be about 2% of the original value for four
depths.
The effect causes the increase of the resistance of the conductor at higher frequencies,
where the skin depth is smaller, as it is inversely proportional to frequency, decreasing the
effective conduction cross-section area.
The additional resistance is called AC (alternating electric current) resistance that is
calculated by equation 2 for a microstrip line:

(2)
Also,

is added into the DC resistante (

):

(3)
Where is the length of the line, is the width and is the height of signal portion of the
line.

3. Simulation
The microstrip line considered in this work is presented at figure 1, where w = 200 m and t
= 35 m.
4


Figure 1 - Microstrip Line
First of all, this line was drawn as a model in Maxwell 2-D for an eddy current solver, as
seen in figure 2.

Figure 2 - Microstrip Model
Then, the ground and signal portions were assigned as copper and dielectric as air. Also, it
was settled that the current flowing the signal was 1 A and the ground 1 A, indicating opposite
flow.
After setting matrix as an executive parameter, the frequency of simulation and the number
of steps to solve the problem, the impedance matrix in figure 3 was obtained for 1 Hz frequency.
The diagonal elements are the ones used in the calculations.
5


Figure 3 - Impedance Matrix

4. Results and discussion
Considering the model drawn in Maxwell 2-D simulator, the real part (resistance) of
impedance obtained for some frequency points are available in table 1, as well in the graphic in
figure 4.
Table 1
Resistance Microstrip Line Simulation Results
Frequency Ground Signal Total Resistance
1 Hz 0.24631 2.4631 2.70941
10 Hz 0.24631 2.4631 2.70941
100 Hz 0.24631 2.4631 2.70941
1 kHz 0.24633 2.4633 2.70963
10 kHz 0.24633 2.4633 2.70963
100 kHz 0.24848 2.485 2.73348
1 MHz 0.30497 2.9028 3.20777
10 MHz 0.49251 4.0869 4.57941
100 MHz 1.4255 11.339 12.7645
1 GHz 4.0673 36.128 40.1953


Figure 4 Plot of simulation results
From figure 4, it is observed that at low frequencies the AC resistance has no effect, in other
words the values obtained are relative to the DC component, because the skin depth is larger
than the conductor thickness and the current flows through the signal component cross-section
0
10
20
30
40
50
1 Hz 10 Hz 100 Hz 1 kHz 10 kHz 100
kHz
1 MHz 10
MHz
100
MHz
1 GHz
R
e
s
i
s
t
a
n
c
e

(

)

Frequency
Resistance vs. Frequency
Ground
Signal
Total Resistance
6

area. For frequencies above 1 MHz,

has considerable values due to skin effect. As the skin

depth decreases and current flows in a smaller area, the total resistance value becomes bigger.
From equations (2) and (3), the resistances for the ground and signal components of
microstrip line were calculated considering a unit length. Summing these two components, it is
obtained the total resistance. The data is shown in the following table and in figure 5.
Table 2
Resistance - Microstrip Line - Analytical Results
Frequency Ground Signal Total Resistance
1 Hz 0.24513 2.4513 2.69643
10 Hz 0.2454 2.4541 2.6995
100 Hz 0.2463 2.463 2.7093
1 kHz 0.2491 2.4912 2.7403
10 kHz 0.258 2.5803 2.8383
100 kHz 0.2862 2.862 3.1482
1 MHz 0.3753 3.753 4.1283
10 MHz 0.657 6.5705 7.2275
100 MHz 1.548 15.4802 17.0282
1 GHz 4.3655 43.655 48.0205

The same behavior of resistance is obtained for analytical results. There are some
discrepancies, although they can be reduced by increasing the number of steps of calculus in
simulation.

Figure 5 Plot of analytical results
Dividing the results obtained for imaginary parts of impedance by , the inductance of
ground and signal components are calculated. As they are in series, the total inductance is
obtained by the sum of both.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
1 Hz 10 Hz 100
Hz
1 kHz 10
kHz
100
kHz
1
MHz
10
MHz
100
MHz
1
GHz
R
e
s
i
s
t
a
n
c
e

(

)


Frequency
Resistance vs. Frequency
Ground
Signal
Total Resistance
7

Table 3
Inductance
Frequency Ground Signal Total Resistance
1 Hz 2.04E-07 2.73E-07 4.7729E-07
10 Hz 2.04E-08 2.73E-08 4.77E-08
100 Hz 2.05E-09 2.73E-09 4.78E-09
1 kHz 2.05E-10 2.73E-10 4.78E-10
10 kHz 2.05E-11 2.73E-11 4.78E-11
100 kHz 2.04E-12 2.72E-13 2.32E-12
1 MHz 2.02E-13 2.51E-13 4.54E-13
10 MHz 2.01E-14 2.43E-14 4.44E-14
100 MHz 2.10E-15 2.49E-15 4.59E-15
1 GHz 1.00E-16 1.37E-16 2.38E-16

The inductance decays with the increasing frequency. The area of field incidence decreases
and therefore is less magnetic field flux in the conductor. The inductance is responsible for
storing magnetic energy, as there is less influence of magnetic field, consequently, the inductive
effect is lower for high frequencies, as can be seen in figure 6.


Figure 6 - Plot of inductance
The next figures show how the electric current density is distributed in the conductor surface
for 1 Hz, 1 MHz and 1 GHz frequencies.
0.00E+00
1.00E-07
2.00E-07
3.00E-07
4.00E-07
5.00E-07
6.00E-07
1 Hz 10 Hz 100
Hz
1 kHz 10
kHz
100
kHz
1
MHz
10
MHz
100
MHz
1
GHz

I
n
d
u
c
t
a
n
c
e

(
H
)

Frequency
Inductance vs. Frequency
Ground
Signal
Total Inductance
8


Figure 7 - Electric current density distribution in microstrip line for 1 Hz

Figure 8 - Electric current density distribution for 1 MHz

Figure 9 - Electric current density distribution for 1 GHz
9

As expected, for low frequencies the skin depth is bigger than the conductor thickness, so
that the current flows in all its cross-section area. As the frequency increases, the area in which
the amplitude of the current is maximum becomes even more limited, so that its value is bigger
only in the border of the conductor at 1 GHz. The last three figures show clearly how the skin
depth decreases with the influence of frequency.

5. Conclusion
This project analyzed the influence of the skin effect over a microstrip line with the variation
of frequency. The results were obtained by Maxwell 2-D simulator and analytical calculations.
Graphics and tables were provided to describe the behavior of the impedance of the line with
the increasing frequency.
From the given data, it can be concluded that as the skin depth (area of field penetration)
decreases, less is the magnetic flux in the conductor and consequently smaller is the
inductance. Moreover, the resistance has bigger values for high frequencies, decreasing the
area in which electric current flows.
Hence, the skin effect is stronger when the frequency becomes higher, so that the electrical
features of the line changes.

6. References
IDA, N. Engineering Electromagnetics. Second Edition. Springer, 2003.
POZAR, D. Microwave Engineering. Fourth Edition. Wiley, 2011.
SADIKU, M. Elements of Electromagnetics. Fourth Edition. Oxford, 2006.