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MICROWAVE

ENGINEERING
(NOTES)



Submitted By-
Pallvi Kaushal
P.I.M.T., LKO













EEC 603 MICROWAVE ENGINEERING


UNIT-I- Rectangular Wave Guide: Field Components, TE, TM Modes, Dominant TE10 mode, Field
Distribution, Power, Attenuation. Circular Waveguides: TE, TM modes. Wave Velocities,
Micro strip Transmission line (TL), Coupled TL, Strip TL, Coupled Strip Line, Coplanar TL,
Microwave Cavities.

UNIT-II- Scattering Matrix , Passive microwave devices: Microwave Hybrid Circuits. , Terminations,
Attenuators, Phase Shifters, Directional Couplers: Two Hole directional couplers, S Matrix of a
Directional- coupler, Hybrid Couplers, Microwave Propagation in ferrites, Faraday Rotation,
Isolators, Circulators. S- parameter analysis of all components.

UNIT-III- Microwave Tubes: Limitation of Conventional Active Devices at Microwave frequency, Two
Cavity Klystron, Reflex Klystron, Magnetron, Traveling Wave Tube, Backward Wave
Oscillators: Their Schematic, Principle of Operation, Performance Characteristic and their
applications.

UNIT-IV- Solid state amplifiers and oscillators: Microwave Bipolar Transistor, Microwave tunnel diode,
Microwave Field-effect Transistor, Transferred electron devices, Avalanche Transit time
devices: IMPATT Diode, TRAPPAT Diode,

UNIT-V- Microwave Measurements: General set up of a microwave test bench, Slotted line carriage,
VSWR Meter, microwave power measurements techniques, Crystal Detector, frequency
measurement, wavelength measurements, Impedance and Reflection coefficient, VSWR,
Insertion and attenuation loss measurements, measurement of antenna characteristics,
microwave link design.



Text Books:
1. Samuel Y. Liao, Microwave Devices and Circuits, 3rd Ed, Pearson Education.
2. A. Das and S. K. Das, Microwave Engineering, TMH.

Reference Books:
1. R.E Collin, Foundation for Microwave Engineering , 2nd Ed., John Wiley India.



UNIT-1


Transverse Mode-
A transverse mode of a beam of electromagnetic radiation is a particular electromagnetic field
pattern of radiation measured in a plane perpendicular (i.e., transverse) to the propagation direction of the
beam. Transverse modes occur in radio waves and microwaves confined to a waveguide, and also in light
waves in an optical fiber and in a laser's optical resonator.
Transverse modes occur because of boundary conditions imposed on the wave by the waveguide.
For example, a radio wave in a hollow metal waveguide must have zero tangential electric field
amplitude at the walls of the waveguide, so the transverse pattern of the electric field of waves is
restricted to those that fit between the walls. For this reason, the modes supported by a waveguide are
quantized. The allowed modes can be found by solving Maxwell's equations for the boundary conditions
of a given waveguide.

Types Of Modes-
Transverse modes are classified into different types:
TE modes (Transverse Electric) no electric field in the direction of propagation.
TM modes (Transverse Magnetic) no magnetic field in the direction of propagation.
TEM modes (Transverse ElectroMagnetic) neither electric nor magnetic field in the direction of
propagation.
Hybrid modes nonzero electric and magnetic fields in the direction of propagation.
Some authors use an alternate notation;
H modes have a magnetic field component in the direction of propagation. H modes are equivalent
to TE modes.
E modes have an electric field component in the direction of propagations. E modes are equivalent
to TM modes.
In rectangular waveguides, rectangular mode numbers are designated by two suffix numbers
attached to the mode type, such as TE
mn
, where m is the number of half-wavelengths across the width of
the waveguide and n is the number of half-wavelengths across the height of the waveguide. In circular
waveguides, circular modes exist and here m is the number of half-wavelengths along a half-
circumference and n is the number of half-wavelengths along a radius.
Modes of hollow metallic waveguides filled with a homogeneous, isotropic material fall into the first
two categories. Otherwise, except in cases of special symmetry, modes are generally of hybrid type. For
example, light travelling in an optical fiber or other dielectric waveguide forms hybrid-type modes. The
fiber modes are usually referred to as LP (linear polarization) modes, which refer to a scalar
approximation for the field solution, treating it as if it contains only one transverse field component (this
is accurate because of the low refractive index contrast in typical fibers, the transverse electromagnetic
(TEM) type. A planar Fabry-Perot resonator or etalon can also exhibit linearly polarized TEM modes. A
resonator employing curved mirrors cannot support a TEM mode. Such modes are almost always hybrid
except for the special cases of the electric field polarized either radially or azimuthally. The former case
corresponds to a TM mode, the latter to a TE mode. Equivalently, linear polarization and TEM modes are
mutually exclusive for a Gaussian beam or any other beam with curved wavefronts.
Microwave cavity-
A microwave cavity or radio frequency (RF) cavity is a special type of resonator, consisting of a
closed (or largely closed) metal structure that confines electromagnetic fields in the microwave region of
the spectrum. The structure is either hollow or filled with dielectric material.
A microwave cavity acts similarly to a resonant circuit with extremely low loss at its frequency of
operation, resulting in quality factors up to the order of 10
6
, compared to 10
2
for circuits made with
separate inductors and capacitors at the same frequency. They are used in oscillators and transmitters to
create microwave signals, and as filters to separate a signal at a given frequency from other signals, in
equipment such as radar equipment, microwave relay stations, satellite communications, and microwave
ovens.
In addition to their use in electrical networks, RF cavities can manipulate charged particles passing
through them by application of acceleration voltage and are thus used in particle accelerators.

Theory of operation-
Most resonant cavities are made from closed (or short-circuited) sections of waveguide or high-
permittivity dielectric material. Electric and magnetic energy is stored in the cavity and the only losses
are due to finite conductivity of cavity walls and dielectric losses of material filling the cavity. Every
cavity has numerous resonant frequencies that correspond to electromagnetic field modes satisfying
necessary boundary conditions on the walls of the cavity. Because of these boundary conditions that must
be satisfied at resonance (tangential electric fields must be zero at cavity walls), it follows that cavity
length must be an integer multiple of half-wavelength at resonance. Hence, a resonant cavity can be
thought of as a waveguide equivalent of short circuited half-wavelength transmission line resonator. Q
factor of a resonant cavity can be calculated using cavity perturbation theory and expressions for stored
electric and magnetic energy.
The electromagnetic fields in the cavity are excited via external coupling. An external power source
is usually coupled to the cavity by a small aperture, a small wire probe or a loop. External coupling
structure has an effect on cavity performance and needs to be considered in the overall analysis.
Quality factor-
The quality factor of a cavity can be decomposed into three parts, representing different power
loss mechanisms.
, resulting from the power loss in the walls which have finite conductivity.







, resulting from the power loss in the lossy dielectric material filling the cavity.


, resulting from power loss through unclosed surfaces (holes) of the cavity geometry.
Total Q factor of the cavity can be found as-







where k is the wave number, is the intrinsic impedance of the dielectric, is the surface
resistivity of the cavity walls, and are relative permeability and permittivity respectively and
is the loss tangent of the dielectric.

Cavity geometry-
Rectangular cavity-


(Rectangular cavity)
Resonance frequencies of a rectangular microwave cavity for any or resonant mode
can be found by imposing boundary conditions on electromagnetic field expressions. This frequency is
given by







where is the wave number, with , , being the mode numbers and , , being the
corresponding dimensions; c is the speed of light in vacuum; and and are relative permeability and
permittivity respectively.

Cylindrical cavity-

(Cylindrical cavity)
The field solutions of a cylindrical cavity of length and radius follow from the solutions of a
cylindrical waveguide with additional electric boundary conditions at the position of the enclosing plates.
The resonance frequencies are different for TE and TM modes.
TM modes-

TE modes-

Here, denotes the -
th
zero of the -
th
Bessel function, and denotes the -
th
zero of the
derivative of the -
th
Bessel function.




Comparison to LC circuits-

(LC circuit equivalent for microwave resonant cavity)
Microwave resonant cavities can be represented and thought of as simple LC circuits. For a
microwave cavity, the stored electric energy is equal to the stored magnetic energy at resonance as is the
case for a resonant LC circuit. In terms of inductance and capacitance, the resonant frequency for a given
mode can be written as




















where V is the cavity volume, is the mode wave number and and are permittivity and
permeability respectively.
To better understand the utility of resonant cavities at microwave frequencies, it is useful to note that
the losses of conventional inductors and capacitors start to increase with frequency in the VHF range.
Similarly, for frequencies above one gigahertz, Q factor values for transmission-line resonators start to
decrease with frequency. Because of their low losses and high Q factors, cavity resonators are preferred
over conventional LC and transmission-line resonators at high frequencies.
Losses in LC resonant circuits-
Conventional inductors are usually wound from wire in the shape of a helix with no core. Skin effect
causes the high frequency resistance of inductors to be many times their direct current resistance. In
addition capacitance between turns causes dielectric losses in the insulation which coats the wires. These
effects make the high frequency resistance greater and decrease the Q factor.
Conventional capacitors use air, mica, ceramic or perhaps teflon for a dielectric. Even with a low
loss dielectric, capacitors are also subject to skin effect losses in their leads and plates. Both effects
increase their equivalent series resistance and reduce their Q.
Even if the Q factor of VHF inductors and capacitors is high enough to be useful, their parasitic
properties can significantly affect their performance in this frequency range. The shunt capacitance of an
inductor may be more significant than its desirable series inductance. The series inductance of a capacitor
may be more significant than its desirable shunt capacitance. As a result, in the VHF or microwave
regions, a capacitor may appear to be an inductor and an inductor may appear to be a capacitor. These
phenomena are better known as parasitic inductance and parasitic capacitance.

Losses in cavity resonators-
Dielectric loss of air is extremely low for high frequency electric or magnetic fields. Air-filled
microwave cavities confine electric and magnetic fields to the air spaces between their walls. Electric
losses in such cavities are almost exclusively due to currents flowing in cavity walls. While losses from
wall currents are small, cavities are frequently plated with silver to increase their electrical conductivity
and reduce these losses even further. Copper cavities frequently oxidize, which increases their loss.
Silver or gold plating prevents oxidation and reduces electrical losses in cavity walls. Even though gold
is not quite as good a conductor as copper, it still prevents oxidation and the resulting deterioration of Q
factor over time. However, because of its high cost, it is used only in the most demanding applications.
Some satellite resonators are silver plated and covered with a gold flash layer. The current then
mostly flows in the high-conductivity silver layer, while the gold flash layer protects the silver layer from
oxidizing.

Transmission line-

Schematic shows how a wave flows down a lossless transmission line. Red color indicates high
voltage, and blue indicates low voltage. Black dots represent electrons. The line is terminated at an
impedance-matched load resistor (box on right), which fully absorbs the wave.
In communications and electronic engineering, a transmission line is a specialized cable designed to
carry alternating current of radio frequency, that is, currents with a frequency high enough that their wave
nature must be taken into account. Transmission lines are used for purposes such as connecting radio
transmitters and receivers with their antennas, distributing cable television signals, and computer network
connections.

Explanation
Ordinary electrical cables suffice to carry low frequency AC, such as mains power, which reverses
direction 100 to 120 times per second (cycling 50 to 60 times per second). However, they cannot be used
to carry currents in the radio frequency range or higher, which reverse direction millions to billions of
times per second, because the energy tends to radiate off the cable as radio waves, causing power losses.
Radio frequency currents also tend to reflect from discontinuities in the cable such as connectors, and
travel back down the cable toward the source. These reflections act as bottlenecks, preventing the power
from reaching the destination. Transmission lines use specialized construction such as precise conductor
dimensions and spacing, and impedance matching, to carry electromagnetic signals with minimal
reflections and power losses. Types of transmission line include ladder line, coaxial cable, dielectric
slabs, stripline, optical fiber, and waveguides. The higher the frequency, the shorter are the waves in a
transmission medium. Transmission lines must be used when the frequency is high enough that the
wavelength of the waves begins to approach the length of the cable used. To conduct energy at
frequencies above the radio range, such as millimeter waves, infrared, and light, the waves become much
smaller than the dimensions of the structures used to guide them, so transmission line techniques become
inadequate and the methods of optics are used.
The theory of sound wave propagation is very similar mathematically to that of electromagnetic
waves, so techniques from transmission line theory are also used to build structures to conduct acoustic
waves; and these are also called transmission lines.
Applicability-
In many electric circuits, the length of the wires connecting the components can for the most part be
ignored. That is, the voltage on the wire at a given time can be assumed to be the same at all points.
However, when the voltage changes in a time interval comparable to the time it takes for the signal to
travel down the wire, the length becomes important and the wire must be treated as a transmission line.
Stated another way, the length of the wire is important when the signal includes frequency components
with corresponding wavelengths comparable to or less than the length of the wire.
A common rule of thumb is that the cable or wire should be treated as a transmission line if the
length is greater than 1/10 of the wavelength. At this length the phase delay and the interference of any
reflections on the line become important and can lead to unpredictable behavior in systems which have
not been carefully designed using transmission line theory.



The four terminal model-

(Variations of the schematic electronic symbol for transmission line)
For the purposes of analysis, an electrical transmission line can be modeled as a two-port network (also
called a quad pole network), as follows:

In the simplest case, the network is assumed to be linear (i.e. the complex voltage across either port
is proportional to the complex current flowing into it when there are no reflections), and the two ports are
assumed to be interchangeable. If the transmission line is uniform along its length, then its behavior is
largely described by a single parameter called the characteristic impedance, symbol Z
0
. This is the ratio
of the complex voltage of a given wave to the complex current of the same wave at any point on the line.
Typical values of Z
0
are 50 or 75 ohms for a coaxial cable, about 100 ohms for a twisted pair of wires,
and about 300 ohms for a common type of untwisted pair used in radio transmission.
When sending power down a transmission line, it is usually desirable that as much power as possible
will be absorbed by the load and as little as possible will be reflected back to the source. This can be
ensured by making the load impedance equal to Z
0
, in which case the transmission line is said to be
matched.


A transmission line is drawn as two black wires. At a distance x into the line, there is current I(x)
traveling through each wire, and there is a voltage difference V(x) between the wires. If the current and
voltage come from a single wave (with no reflection), then V(x) / I(x) = Z
0
, where Z
0
is the characteristic
impedance of the line.
Some of the power that is fed into a transmission line is lost because of its resistance. This effect is
called ohmic or resistive loss (see ohmic heating). At high frequencies, another effect called dielectric
loss becomes significant, adding to the losses caused by resistance. Dielectric loss is caused when the
insulating material inside the transmission line absorbs energy from the alternating electric field and
converts it to heat (see dielectric heating). The transmission line is modeled with a resistance (R) and
inductance (L) in series with a capacitance (C) and conductance (G) in parallel. The resistance and
conductance contribute to the loss in a transmission line.
The total loss of power in a transmission line is often specified in decibels per meter (dB/m), and
usually depends on the frequency of the signal. The manufacturer often supplies a chart showing the loss
in dB/m at a range of frequencies. A loss of 3 dB corresponds approximately to a halving of the power.
High-frequency transmission lines can be defined as those designed to carry electromagnetic waves
whose wavelengths are shorter than or comparable to the length of the line. Under these conditions, the
approximations useful for calculations at lower frequencies are no longer accurate. This often occurs with
radio, microwave and optical signals, metal mesh optical filters, and with the signals found in high-speed
digital circuits.

Microstrip-


Cross-section of micro strip geometry. Conductor (A) is separated from ground plane (D) by dielectric
substrate (C). Upper dielectric (B) is typically air.
Microstrip is a type of electrical transmission line which can be fabricated using printed circuit
board technology, and is used to convey microwave-frequency signals. It consists of a conducting strip
separated from a ground plane by a dielectric layer known as the substrate. Microwave components such
as antennas, couplers, filters, power dividers etc. can be formed from microstrip, the entire device
existing as the pattern of metallization on the substrate. Microstrip is thus much less expensive than
traditional waveguide technology, as well as being far lighter and more compact. Microstrip was
developed by ITT laboratories as a competitor to stripline (first published by Grieg and Engelmann in the
December 1952 IRE proceedings).
The disadvantages of microstrip compared with waveguide are the generally lower power handling
capacity, and higher losses. Also, unlike waveguide, microstrip is not enclosed, and is therefore
susceptible to cross-talk and unintentional radiation.
For lowest cost, microstrip devices may be built on an ordinary FR-4 (standard PCB) substrate.
However it is often found that the dielectric losses in FR4 are too high at microwave frequencies, and
that the dielectric constant is not sufficiently tightly controlled. For these reasons, an alumina substrate is
commonly used.
On a smaller scale, microstrip transmission lines are also built into monolithic microwave integrated
circuits. Microstrip lines are also used in high-speed digital PCB designs, where signals need to be routed
from one part of the assembly to another with minimal distortion, and avoiding high cross-talk and
radiation. Microstrip is very similar to stripline and coplanar waveguide,

and it is possible to integrate all
three on the same substrate.

Stripline-


Cross-section diagram of stripline geometry. Central conductor (A) is sandwiched between ground planes
(B and D). Structure is supported by dielectric (C).
Stripline is a transverse electromagnetic (TEM) transmission line medium, that was invented by
Robert M. Barrett of the Air Force Cambridge Research Centre in the 1950s.

Description
A stripline circuit uses a flat strip of metal which is sandwiched between two parallel ground planes.
The insulating material of the substrate forms a dielectric. The width of the strip, the thickness of the
substrate and the relative permittivity of the substrate determine the characteristic impedance of the strip
which is a transmission line. As shown in the diagram, the central conductor need not be equally spaced
between the ground planes. In the general case, the dielectric material may be different above and below
the central conductor.
To prevent the propagation of unwanted modes, the two ground planes must be shorted together.
This is commonly achieved by a row of vias running parallel to the strip on each side.
Like coaxial cable, stripline is non-dispersive, and has no cutoff frequency. Good isolation between
adjacent traces can be achieved more easily than with microstrip. Stripline provides for enhanced noise
immunity against the propagation of radiated RF emissions, at the expense of slower propagation speeds.

Alternatives

A microstrip is similar to stripline transmission line except that the microstrip is not sandwiched, it is
on a surface layer, above a ground plane.
Stripline is much harder (and more expensive) to fabricate than microstrip, and because of the
second groundplane, the strip widths are much narrower for a given impedance and board thickness than
for microstrip. Stripline, now used as a generic term, was originally a proprietary brand of Airborne
Instruments Laboratory Inc. (AIL). The version as produced by AIL was essentially air insulated with
just a thin layer of dielectric material - just enough to support the conducting strip. The conductor was
printed on both sides of the dielectric. The more familiar version with the space between the two plates
completely filled with dielectric was originally produced by Sanders Associates who marketed it under
the brand name of triplet.

Microwave transmission refers to the technology of transmitting information or energy by the use
of radio waves whose wavelengths are conveniently measured in small numbers of centimeter; these are
called microwaves. This part of the radio spectrum ranges across frequencies of roughly 1.0 gigahertz
(GHz) to 30 GHz. These correspond to wavelengths from 30 centimeters down to 1.0 cm.
Microwaves are widely used for point-to-point communications because their small wavelength
allows conveniently-sized antennas to direct them in narrow beams, which can be pointed directly at the
receiving antenna. This allows nearby microwave equipment to use the same frequencies without
interfering with each other, as lower frequency radio waves do. Another advantage is that the high
frequency of microwaves gives the microwave band a very large information-carrying capacity; the
microwave band has a bandwidth 30 times that of all the rest of the radio spectrum below it. A
disadvantage is that microwaves are limited to line of sight propagation; they cannot pass around hills or
mountains as lower frequency radio waves can.
Microwave radio transmission is commonly used in point-to-point communication systems on the
surface of the Earth, in satellite communications, and in deep space radio communications. Other parts of
the microwave radio band are used for radars, radio navigation systems, sensor systems, and radio
astronomy.
The next higher part of the radio electromagnetic spectrum, where the frequencies are above 30 GHz
and below 100 GHz, are called "millimeter waves" because their wavelengths are conveniently measured
in millimeters, and their wavelengths range from 10 mm down to 3.0 mm. Radio waves in this band are
usually strongly attenuated by the Earthly atmosphere and particles contained in it, especially during wet
weather. Also, in wide band of frequencies around 60 GHz, the radio waves are strongly attenuated by
molecular oxygen in the atmosphere. The electronic technologies needed in the millimeter wave band are
also much more difficult to utilize than those of the microwave band.
Uses-
Wireless transmission of information-
One-way (e.g. television broadcasting) and two-way telecommunication using communications
satellite
Terrestrial microwave radio broadcasting relay links in telecommunications networks including e.g.
backbone or backhaul carriers in cellular networks linking BTS-BSC and BSC-MSC.


Wireless transmission of power
Proposed systems e.g. for connecting solar power collecting satellites to terrestrial power grids
Parabolic (microwave) antenna-
To direct microwaves in narrow beams for point-to-point communication links or radiolocation
(radar), a parabolic antenna is usually used. This is an antenna that uses a parabolic reflector to direct
the microwaves. To achieve narrow beamwidths, the reflector must be much larger than the wavelength
of the radio waves. The relatively short wavelength of microwaves allows reasonably sized dishes to
exhibit the desired highly directional response for both receiving and transmitting.
Microwave radio relay-
Microwave radio relay is a technology for transmitting digital and analog signals, such as long-
distance telephone calls, television programs, and computer data, between two locations on a line of sight
radio path. In microwave radio relay, microwaves are transmitted between the two locations with
directional antennas, forming a fixed radio connection between the two points. The requirement of a line
of sight limits the distance between stations to 30 or 40 miles.
Beginning in the 1950s and 1960s networks of microwave relay links, such as the AT&T Long Lines
system in the U.S., carried long distance telephone calls and television programs between cities. These
included long daisy-chained series of such links that traversed mountain ranges and spanned continents.
Much of the transcontinental traffic is now carried by cheaper optical fibers and communication
satellites, but microwave relay remains important for shorter distances.
Because the radio waves travel in narrow beams confined to a line-of-sight path from one antenna to
the other, they don't interfere with other microwave equipment, and nearby microwave links can use the
same frequencies. Antennas used must be highly directional (High gain); these antennas are installed in
elevated locations such as large radio towers in order to be able to transmit across long distances. Typical
types of antenna used in radio relay link installations are parabolic antennas, dielectric lens, and horn-
reflector antennas, which have a diameter of up to 4 meters. Highly directive antennas permit an
economical use of the available frequency spectrum, despite long transmission distances.

(Danish military radio relay node)
Planning considerations-

Because of the high frequencies used, a quasi-optical line of sight between the stations is generally
required. Additionally, in order to form the line of sight connection between the two stations, the first
Fresnel zone must be free from obstacles so the radio waves can propagate across a nearly uninterrupted
path. Obstacles in the signal field cause unwanted attenuation, and are as a result only acceptable in
exceptional cases. High mountain peak or ridge positions are often ideal: Europe's highest radio relay
station, the Richtfunkstation Jungfraujoch, is situated atop the Jungfraujoch ridge at an altitude of 3,705
meters (12,156 ft) above sea level.

(Multiple antennas provide space diversity)
An isolator is a two-port device that transmits microwave or radio frequency power in one direction
only. It is used to shield equipment on its input side, from the effects of conditions on its output side; for
example, to prevent a microwave source being detuned by a mismatched load.
H-plane-
In the case of the same linearly polarized antenna, this is the plane containing the magnetic field
vector and the direction of maximum radiation. The magnetizing field or "H" plane lies at a right angle to
the "E" plane. For a vertically polarized antenna, the H-plane usually coincides with the
horizontal/azimuth plane. For a horizontally-polarized antenna, the H-plane usually coincides with the
vertical/elevation plane.

(Diagram showing the relationship between the E and H planes for a horizontally polarized directional
yagi antenna)
(Diagram showing the relationship between the E and H planes for a vertically polarized omnidirectional
dipole antenna)




UNIT-2



Scattering parameters-
Scattering parameters or S-parameters (the elements of a scattering matrix or S-matrix)
describe the electrical behavior of linear electrical networks when undergoing various steady statestimuli
by electrical signals. The S-parameters are members of a family of similar parameters, other examples
being: Y-parameters,
[1]
Z-parameters,
[2]
H-parameters, T-parameters or ABCD-parameters.
[3][4]
They
differ from these, in the sense that S-parameters do not use open or short circuit conditions to
characterize a linear electrical network; instead, matched loads are used. These terminations are much
easier to use at high signal frequencies than open-circuit and short-circuit terminations. Moreover, the
quantities are measured in terms of power.
Many electrical properties of networks of components (inductors, capacitors, resistors) may be
expressed using S-parameters, such as gain, return loss, voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR),reflection
coefficient and amplifier stability. The term 'scattering' is more common to optical engineering than RF
engineering, referring to the effect observed when a plane electromagnetic wave is incident on an
obstruction or passes across dissimilar dielectric media. Although applicable at any frequency, S-
parameters are mostly used for networks operating at radio frequency (RF) and microwave frequencies
where signal power and energy considerations are more easily quantified than currents and voltages. S-
parameters change with the measurement frequency, so frequency must be specified for any S-parameter
measurements stated, in addition to the characteristic impedance or system impedance.

Two-port network-

The S-parameter matrix for the 2-port network is probably the most commonly used and serves as
the basic building block for generating the higher order matrices for larger networks.
[13]
In this case the
relationship between the reflected, incident power waves and the S-parameter matrix is given by:

Expanding the matrices into equations gives:

and


Each equation gives the relationship between the reflected and incident power waves at each of the
network ports, 1 and 2, in terms of the network's individual S-parameters, , , and . If one
considers an incident power wave at port 1 ( ) there may result from it waves exiting from either port 1
itself ( ) or port 2 ( ). However if, according to the definition of S-parameters, port 2 is terminated in
a load identical to the system impedance ( ) then, by the maximum power transfer theorem, will be
totally absorbed making equal to zero. Therefore
and
Similarly, if port 1 is terminated in the system impedance then becomes zero, giving
and
Each 2-port S-parameter has the following generic descriptions:
is the input port voltage reflection coefficient
is the reverse voltage gain
is the forward voltage gain
S
22
is the output port voltage reflection coefficient.

S- parameter properties of two port network-

An amplifier operating under linear (small signal) conditions is a good example of a non-reciprocal
network and a matched attenuator is an example of a reciprocal network. In the following cases we will
assume that the input and output connections are to ports 1 and 2 respectively which is the most common
convention. The nominal system impedance, frequency and any other factors which may influence the
device, such as temperature, must also be specified.

Complex linear gain-
The complex linear gain G is given by
.
That is simply the voltage gain as a linear ratio of the output voltage divided by the input voltage, all
values expressed as complex quantities.
Scalar linear gain
The scalar linear gain (or linear gain magnitude) is given by
.
That is simply the scalar voltage gain as a linear ratio of the output voltage and the input voltage. As this
is a scalar quantity, the phase is not relevant in this case.
Scalar logarithmic gain-
The scalar logarithmic (decibel or dB) expression for gain (g) is
dB.
This is more commonly used than scalar linear gain and a positive quantity is normally understood
as simply a 'gain'... A negative quantity can be expressed as a 'negative gain' or more usually as a 'loss'
equivalent to its magnitude in dB. For example, a 10 m length of cable may have a gain of - 1 dB at
100 MHz or a loss of 1 dB at 100 MHz.
Insertion loss-
In case the two measurement ports use the same reference impedance, the insertion loss ( ) is the
dB expression of the transmission coefficient . It is thus given by:
[14]

dB.
It is the extra loss produced by the introduction of the DUT between the 2 reference planes of the
measurement. Notice that the extra loss can be introduced by intrinsic loss in the DUT and/or mismatch.
In case of extra loss the insertion loss is defined to be positive.
Input return loss-
Input return loss ( ) is a scalar measure of how close the actual input impedance of the network
is to the nominal system impedance value and, expressed in logarithmic magnitude, is given by
dB.
By definition, return loss is a positive scalar quantity implying the 2 pairs of magnitude (|) symbols.
The linear part, is equivalent to the reflected voltage magnitude divided by the incident voltage
magnitude.
Output return loss-
The output return loss ( ) has a similar definition to the input return loss but applies to the
output port (port 2) instead of the input port. It is given by
dB.

Reverse gain and reverse isolation-
The scalar logarithmic (decibel or dB) expression for reverse gain ( ) is:
dB.
Often this will be expressed as reverse isolation ( ) in which case it becomes a positive quantity equal
to the magnitude of and the expression becomes:
dB.

Voltage reflection coefficient-
The voltage reflection coefficient at the input port ( ) or at the output port ( ) are equivalent to
and respectively, so
and .
As and are complex quantities, so are and .
Voltage reflection coefficients are complex quantities and may be graphically represented on polar
diagrams or Smith Charts.

Voltage standing wave ratio-
The voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) at a port, represented by the lower case 's', is a similar
measure of port match to return loss but is a scalar linear quantity, the ratio of the standing wave
maximum voltage to the standing wave minimum voltage. It therefore relates to the magnitude of the
voltage reflection coefficient and hence to the magnitude of either for the input port or for the
output port.
At the input port, the VSWR ( ) is given by

At the output port, the VSWR ( ) is given by


This is correct for reflection coefficients with a magnitude no greater than unity, which is usually the
case. A reflection coefficient with a magnitude greater than unity, such as in a tunnel diode amplifier,
will result in a negative value for this expression. VSWR, however, from its definition, is always
positive. A more correct expression for port k of a multiport is;

Magic tee-



A magic T consisting of four rectangular waveguide meeting in a single three-dimensional junction
A magic tee (or magic T or hybrid tee) is a hybrid or 3dB coupler used in microwave systems. It is an
alternative to the rat-race coupler. In contrast to the rat-race, the three-dimensional structure of the
magic-tee makes is less readily constructed in planar technologies such as microstrip or stripline.

Structure

The magic tee is a combination of E and H plane tees. Arm 3 forms an H-plane tee with arms 1 and
2. Arm 4 forms an E-plane tee with arms 1 and 2. Arms 1 and 2 are sometimes called the side or collinear
arms. Port 3 is called the H-plane port, and is also called the port, sum port or the P-port (for Parallel).
Port 4 is the E-plane port, and is also called the port, difference port, or S-port (for Series). There is no
one single established convention regarding the numbering of the ports.
To function correctly the magic tee must incorporate an internal matching structure. This structure
typically consists of a post inside the H-plane tee and an inductive iris inside the E-plane limb, though
many alternative structures have been proposed. Dependence on the matching structure means that the
magic tee will only work over a limited frequency band.

Operation
The name magic tee is derived from the way in which power is divided among the various ports. A
signal injected into the H-plane port will be divided equally between ports 1 and 2, and will be in phase.
A signal injected into the E-plane port will also be divided equally between ports 1 and 2, but will be 180
degrees out of phase. If signals are fed in through ports 1 and 2, they are added at the H-plane port and
subtracted at the E-plane port. Thus, with the ports numbered as shown, and to within a phase factor, the
full scattering matrix for an ideal magic tee is

(the signs of the elements in the fourth row and fourth column of this matrix may be reversed, depending
on the polarity assumed for port 4).

Magic
If by means of a suitable internal structure, the E-plane (difference) and H-plane (sum) ports are
simultaneously matched, then by symmetry, reciprocity and conservation of energy it may be shown that
the two collinear ports are also matched, and are magically isolated from each other. The E-field of the
dominant mode in each port is perpendicular to the broad wall of the waveguide. The signals in the E-
plane and H-plane ports therefore have orthogonal polarizations, and so (considering the symmetry of the
structure) there can be no communication between these two ports.
For a signal entering the H-plane port, a well-designed matching structure will prevent any of the
power in the signal being reflected back out of the same port. As there can be no communication with the
E-plane port, and again considering the symmetry of the structure, then the power in this signal must be
divided equally between to the two collinear ports.
Similarly for the E-plane port, if the matching structure eliminates any reflection from this port, then
the power entering it must be divided equally between the two collinear ports.
Now by reciprocity, the coupling between any pair of ports is the same in either direction (the
scattering matrix is symmetric). So if the H-plane port is matched, then half the power entering either one
of the collinear ports will leave by the H-plane port. If the E-plane port is also matched, then half power
will leave by the E-plane port. In this circumstance, there is no power 'left over' either to be reflected out
of the first collinear port or to be transmitted to the other collinear port. Despite apparently being in direct
communication with each other, the two collinear ports are magically isolated.
The isolation between the E-plane and H-plane ports is wide-band and is as perfect as is the
symmetry of the device. The isolation between the collinear ports is however limited by the performance
of the matching structure.


Microwave Termination

Microwave terminat ion is the load connected to a transmission line, circuit, or device.
Attenuator-
An attenuator is an electronic device that reduces the amplitude or power of a signal without
appreciably distorting its waveform. An attenuator is effectively the opposite of an amplifier, though the
two work by different methods. While an amplifier provides gain, an attenuator provides loss, or gain
less than 1. Attenuators are usually passive devices made from simple voltage
divider networks. Switching between different resistances forms adjustable stepped attenuators and
continuously adjustable ones using potentiometers. For higher frequencies precisely matched low VSWR
resistance networks are used.
Fixed attenuators in circuits are used to lower voltage, dissipate power, and to improve impedance
matching. In measuring signals, attenuator pads or adaptors are used to lower the amplitude of the signal
a known amount to enable measurements, or to protect the measuring device from signal levels that
might damage it. Attenuators are also used to 'match' impedances by lowering apparent SWR.

Parameter Definitions-
Attenuation Range - The difference in dB between the
maximum and minimum obtainable attenuation. The minimum obtainable attenuation is normally the
basic insertion loss.
Attenuation Flatness - The difference in dB between minimum and maximum attenuation at a given
attenuation setting over the specified frequency range at ambient temperature (unless otherwise
specified).
An attenuation flatness specification of 0.5 dB or 5% (whichever is greater) is typical for a 0 to 30 dB
model. This means that when set at 10 dB, the maximum attenuation variation is 0.5 dB over the
frequency range. However, when the same unit is set at 30 dB, the attenuation variation can be as high as
5% of the level set, i.e., 1.5 dB.

Attenuator circuit-
Basic circuits used in attenuators are pi pads (-type) and T pads. These may be required to be
balanced or unbalanced networks depending on whether the line geometry with which they are to be used
is balanced or unbalanced. For instance, attenuators used with coaxial lines would be the unbalanced
form while attenuators for use with twisted pair are required to be the balanced form.
Four fundamental attenuator circuit diagrams are given in the figures on the left. Since an attenuator
circuit consists solely of passive resistor elements, it is linear and reciprocal. If the circuit is also made
symmetrical (this is usually the case since it is usually required that the input and output impedances
Z
1
and Z
2
are equal) then the input and output ports are not distinguished, but by convention the left and
right sides of the circuits are referred to as input and output, respectively.

-type unbalanced attenuator circuit

-type balanced attenuator circuit
T-type unbalanced attenuator circuit
T-type balanced attenuator circuit

Attenuation characterstics-
Key specifications for attenuators are:
Attenuation expressed in decibels of relative power. A 3dB pad reduces power to one half, 6dB to one
fourth, 10dB to one tenth, 20dB to one hundredth, 30dB to one thousandth and so on. For voltage you
double the dBs so for example 6dB is half in voltage.
Frequency bandwidth, for example DC-18 GHz
Power dissipation depends on mass and surface area of resistance material as well as possible additional
cooling fins.
SWR is the standing wave ratio for input and output ports
Accuracy
Repeatability


Phase Shifters-

Phase Shifters are devices, in which the phase of an electromagnetic wave of a given frequency can
be shifted when propagating through a transmission line. In many fields of electronics, it is often
necessary to change the phase of signals. RF and microwave Phase Shifters have many applications in
various equipments such as phase discriminators, beam forming networks, power dividers, linearization
of power amplifiers, and phase array antennas. The major parameters which define the RF and
microwave Phase Shifters are:
frequency range,
bandwidth (BW),
total phase variance (j),
insertion loss (IL),
switching speed,
power handling (P),
accuracy and resolution,
input/output matching (VSWR) or return loss (RL),
harmonics level.
Relation between Propagation Constant, Phase Shift, Delay, and Wavelength In a transmission line the
Propagation Constant is a complex number having two parts: - the real portion is the attenuation constant
(, neper per unit length) - the imaginary portion x is called the phase constant (, radians per unit
length).
The attenuation constant determines the way a signal is reduced in amplitude as it propagates
down the line, while the phase constant shows the difference in phase between the voltage at the
sending end of the line and at a distance x. The phase constant x shows the phase shift of the voltage
(or current) at a point located at a distance x along a transmission line with respect to the sending voltage.
A microwave Phase Shifter is a circuit which gives a preset phase shift amount to a high frequency signal
and is normally configured by combining several transmission lines, a switch circuit, or some similar
circuits. Analog Phase Shifters are devices whose phase shift changes continuously with the control input
and therefore offer almost unlimited resolution with monotonic performance. The most commonly
semiconductor control elements used in analog Phase Shifters are varactor diodes. Varactor diode
operates in a reverse-biased condition providing a junction capacitance that varies with applied voltage,
and can be used as an electrically variable capacitor in a tuned circuit. Varactor analog Phase Shifters can
achieve a large amount of phase shift and high speed and require fewer diodes than digital phase shifters,
but at the cost of decreased accuracy, relatively narrow bandwidth, and low input power levels (less than
1 W). Schottky diodes are also used as variable elements in analog Phase Shifters, but they suffer from
limited power handling capability and matching difficulty in broadband networks.


Directional Couplers-

Directional couplers are four-port circuits where one port is isolated from the input port.
Directional couplers are passive reciprocal networks. All four ports are (ideally) matched, and the circuit
is (ideally) lossless. Directional couplers can be realized in microstrip, stripline, coax and waveguide.
They are used for sampling a signal, sometimes both the incident and reflected waves (this application is
called are flectometer, which is an important part of a network analyzer). Directional couplers generally
use distributed properties of microwave circuits, the coupling feature is generally a quarter (or multiple)
quarter-wavelengths. Lumped element couplers can be constructed as well.

A directional coupler has four ports, where one is regarded as the input, one is regarded as the
"through" port (where most of the incident signal exits), one is regarded as the "coupled" port (where a
fixed fraction of the input signal appears, usually expressed in dB), and one is regarded as the "isolated"
port, which is usually terminated. If the signal is reversed so that it enter the "though" port, most of it
exits the "input" port, but the coupled port is now the port that was previously regarded as the "isolated
port". The coupled port is a function of which port is the incident port. Looking at the generic directional
coupler schematic below, if port 1 is the incident port, port 2 is the through port (because it is connected
with a straight line). Port 3 is the coupled port, and port 4 is the isolated port. For a signal incident on
port 2, port 1 is the through port, port 4 is the coupled port and port 3 is the isolated port.

Let port 1 be the input port, port 2 be the "through" port. For a backward wave coupler, port 4 is the
coupled port and port 3 is the isolated port. Ideally, power into port 1 will only appear at ports 2 and 4,
with no power at port 3, but in real couplers some power leaks to port 3. For an incident signal at port 1
of power P1 (and output powers P2, P3 and P4 at ports 2, 3 and 4), then:

Insertion Loss (IL) = 10*log(P1/P2)=-20*log(S21)

Isolation (I) = 10*log(P1/P4)=-20*log(S41)

Coupling (C) = 10*log(P1/P3) = -20*log(S31)

Directivity (D) = 10*log(P3/P4)=20*log(S31/S41)

Bethe-hole coupler-

This is a waveguide directional coupler, using a single hole, and it works over a narrow band. The
two guides are configured. In waveguide, a two-hole coupler, two waveguides share a broad wall. Holes
are 1/4 wave apart. In the foreword case the coupled signals add, in the reverse they subtract (180 apart)
and disappear. Coupling factor is controlled by hole size. The "holes" are often x-shaped, Bi-directional
coupler A directional coupler where the isolated port is not internally terminated. You can use such a
coupler to form a reflectometer, but it is not recommended.

Dual-directional coupler-

Here we have two couplers in series, in opposing directions, with the isolated ports internally terminated.
This component is the basis for the reflectometer.


Hybrid couplers-

A hybrid coupler is a special case, where a 3 dB split is desired between the through path and the
coupled path. There are two types of hybrid couplers, 90 degree couplers (such as Langes or branchlines)
and 180 degree hybrids (such as rat-races and magic tees).

Hybrid couplers are the special case of a four-port directional coupler that is designed for a 3-dB
(equal) power split. Hybrids come in two types, 90 degree or quadrature hybrids, and 180 degree
hybrids. 180 degree hybrid couplers
These include rat-race couplers and waveguide magic tees. Here we will look at the rat-race and
introduce the vector and shorthand notation that is often used when referring to 180 degree hybrid
couplers.



Here's a plot that shows the ideal, "classic" rat-race response (equal split at center frequency).



The rat-race gives about 32% bandwidth for a phase error of +/-10 degrees from the ideal 180 degree
split.

90 degree hybrid couplers-

These are often called quadrature couplers, and include Lange couplers, the branch line coupler,
overlay couplers, edge couplers, and short-slot hybrid couplers. Below the branch line is used as a
combiner. The input signals are vectors of magnitude A and B, then the outputs are as shown. Note that
because we are dealing with voltages, the outputs have a square-root-of-two factor. Power is split exactly
in half (-3 dB), equal to the square of the voltages.

Now let's look at it as a divider. Here only an input signal is present at port A. It splits by 3 dB at the
two outputs, and is isolated from Port B (ideally zero energy comes out this port).


Converting a branchline coupler to a 180 degree hybrid-

In some applications like a monopulse comparator, available 180 degree hybrids complicate the
layout because the "sum" port is between the split ports. But it is as easy as adding a 90 degree section to
one of the ports of a branchline. Below we've lengthened "Input A" by a quarter-wavelength (impedance
is Z
0
). Now we've got a sum and a difference output, just like a rat-race.


Now let's look at the response of this component, and compare it to the "classic" rat-race:



The bandwidth is less. If we just look at the frequency where the 180 degree split is within +/- 10
degrees, it is about 20% (0.9 to 1.1 GHz). Referring to the classic rat-race above, it has 32 percent
bandwidth for the same phase error.


Reflectometer-
This is the component that allows you to measure S-parameter magnitudes using a network analyzer.
A directional coupler only does what it is supposed to if it sees a matched impedance at all four ports.
Errors due to finite directivity Directivity can cause errors if load is not matched. 40 dB directivity will
have a very small error, 20 dB may be unacceptable accuracy.

Coupler or splitter?

What's the difference between a splitter and a coupler? The way we define it, a coupler (usually) has four
ports, uses no "internal" resistors and has one isolated port that is terminated. A splitter is (usually) a
three-port, is non-directional, and requires internal resistors (like a Wilkinson) and has no isolated port.

Faraday Rotation-

The Faraday effect or Faraday rotation is a Magneto-optical phenomenon, that is, an interaction
between light and a magnetic field in a medium. The Faraday effect causes a rotation of the plane
of polarization which is linearly proportional to the component of the magnetic field in the direction of
propagation. The Faraday effect causes left and right circularly polarized waves to propagate at slightly
different speeds, a property known as circular birefringence. Since a linear polarization can be
decomposed into the superposition of two equal-amplitude circularly polarized components of opposite
handedness and different phase, the effect of a relative phase shift, induced by the Faraday effect, is to
rotate the orientation of a wave's linear polarization.

Formally, the magnetic permeability is treated as a non-diagonal tensor as expressed by the equation
The relation between the angle of rotation of the polarization and the magnetic field in a transparent
material is:


(fig.: Polarization rotation due to the Faraday effect)

Where, is the angle of rotation (in radians)
B is the magnetic flux density in the direction of propagation (in teslas)
d is the length of the path (in meters) where the light and magnetic field interact
is the Verdet constant for the material. This empirical proportionality constant (in units of radians
per tesla per meter) varies with wavelength and temperature and is tabulated for various materials.
A positive Verdet constant corresponds to L-rotation (anticlockwise) when the direction of propagation is
parallel to the magnetic field and to R-rotation (clockwise) when the direction of propagation is anti-
parallel. Thus, if a ray of light is passed through a material and reflected back through it, the rotation
doubles.
Some materials, such as terbium gallium garnet (TGG) have extremely high Verdet constants ( 40 rad
T
1
m
1
). By placing a rod of this material in a strong magnetic field, Faraday rotation angles of over 0.78
rad (45) can be achieved. This allows the construction of Faraday rotators, which are the principal
component of Faraday isolators, devices which transmit light in only one direction.
Similar isolators are constructed for microwave systems by using ferrite rods in a waveguide with a
surrounding magnetic field.

Faraday rotaion of semiconductor-


Due to spin-orbit coupling, undoped GaAs single crystal exhibits much larger Faraday rotation than
glass (SiO
2
). Considering the atomic arrangement is different along the (100) and (110) plane, one might
think the Faraday rotation is polarization dependent. However, experimental work revealed an
immeasurable anisotropy in the wavelength range from 880 to 1600 nm. Based on the large Faraday
rotation, one might be able to use GaAs to calibrate the B field of the Tera Hertz electromagnetic wave
which requires very fast response time. Around the band gap, the Faraday effect shows resonance
behavior. More generally, (ferromagnetic) semiconductors return both electro-gyration and a Faraday
response in the high frequency domain. The combination of the two is described by gyroelectromagnetic
media, for which gyroelectricity and gyromagnetism (Faraday effect) may occur at the same time.

CIRCULATOR-

A circulator is a passive non-reciprocal three- or four-port device, in which a microwave or radio
frequency signal entering any port is transmitted to the next port in rotation (only). A port in this context
is a point where an external waveguide or transmission line (such as a microstrip line or a coaxial cable),
connects to the device. For a three-port circulator, a signal applied to port 1 only comes out of port 2; a
signal applied to port 2 only comes out of port 3; a signal applied to port 3 only comes out of port 1, so to
within a phase-factor, the scattering matrix for an ideal three-port circulator is



TYPES

Circulators fall into two main classes: 4-port waveguide circulators based on Faraday rotation of
waves propagating in a magnetised material,
[1][2]
and 3-port "Y-junction" circulators based on
cancellation of waves propagating over two different paths near a magnetised material. Waveguide
circulators may be of either type, while more compact devices based on striplines are of the 3-port type.
Sometimes two or more Y-junctions are combined in a single component to give four or more ports, but
these differ in behaviour from a true 4-port circulator. Radio frequency circulators are composed of
magnetised ferrite materials. A permanent magnet produces the magnetic flux through the
waveguide. Ferrimagnetic garnet crystal is used in optical circulators.
Circulators exist for many frequency bands, ranging from VHF up to optical frequencies, the latter
being used in optical fiber networks. At frequencies much below VHF, ferrite circulators become
impractically large. It is however possible to simulate circulator behaviour all the way down to d.c.
using op-amp circuits.
[3]
Unlike ferrite circulators, these active circulators are not lossless passive
devices but require a supply of power to run. Also the power handling capability and linearity and signal
to noise ratio of transistor-based circulators is not as high as those made from ferrites. It seems that
transistors are the only (space efficient) solution for low frequencies.

APPLICATION

Isolator
When one port of a three-port circulator is terminated in a matched load, it can be used as
an isolator, since a signal can travel in only one direction between the remaining ports.
[4]
An isolator is
used to shield equipment on its input side, from the effects of conditions on its output side; for example,
to prevent a microwave source being detuned by a mismatched load.
Duplexer
In radar, circulators are used as a type of duplexer, to route signals from the transmitter to
the antenna and from the antenna to the receiver, without allowing signals to pass directly from
transmitter to receiver. The alternative type of duplexer is a transmit-receive switch (TR switch) that
alternates between connecting the antenna to the transmitter and to the receiver. The use of chirped
pulses and a high dynamic range may lead to temporal overlap of the sent and received pulses, however,
requiring a circulator for this function.
Reflection amplifier


Microwave diode reflection amplifier using a circulator
A reflection amplifier is a type of microwave amplifier circuit utilizing negative resistance diodes such
as tunnel diodes and Gunn diodes. Negative resistance diodes can amplify signals, and often perform
better at microwave frequencies than two-port devices. However since the diode is a one-port (two
terminal) device, a nonreciprocal component is needed to separate the outgoing amplified signal from the
incoming input signal. By using a 3-port circulator with the signal input connected to one port, the biased
diode connected to a second, and the output load connected to the third, the output and input can be
uncoupled.

Isolator-
An isolator is a two-port device that transmits microwave or radio frequency power in one direction
only. It is used to shield equipment on its input side, from the effects of conditions on its output side; for
example, to prevent a microwave source being detuned by a mismatched load.



NON-RECIPROCITY-
An isolator is a non-reciprocal device, with a non-symmetric scattering matrix. An ideal isolator
transmits all the power entering port 1 to port 2, while absorbing all the power entering port 2, so that to
within a phase-factor its S-matrix is


To achieve non-reciprocity, an isolator must necessarily incorporate a non-reciprocal material. At
microwave frequencies this material is invariably a ferrite which is biased by a static magnetic field. The
ferrite is positioned within the isolator such that the microwave signal presents it with a rotating magnetic
field, with the rotation axis aligned with the direction of the static bias field. The behaviour of the ferrite
depends on the sense of rotation with respect to the bias field, and hence is different for microwave
signals travelling in opposite directions. Depending on the exact operating conditions, the signal
travelling in one direction may either be phase-shifted, displaced from the ferrite or absorbed.

TYPES-
Resonance absorption-
In this type the ferrite absorbs energy from the microwave signal travelling in one direction. A
suitable rotating magnetic field is found in the TE
10
mode of rectangular waveguide. The rotating field
exists away from the centre-line of the broad wall, over the full height of the guide. However, to allow
heat from the absorbed power to be conducted away, the ferrite does not usually extend from one broad-
wall to the other, but is limited to a shallow strip on each face. For a given bias field, resonance
absorption occurs over a fairly narrow frequency band, but since in practice the bias field is not perfectly
uniform throughout the ferrite, the isolator functions over a somewhat wider band.
Field displacement-
This type is superficially very similar to a resonance absorption isolator, but the magnetic biassing
differs, and the energy from the backward travelling signal is absorbed in a resistive film or card on one
face of the ferrite block rather than within the ferrite itself. The bias field is weaker than that necessary to
cause resonance at the operating frequency, but is instead designed to give the ferrite zero permeability
for one sense of rotation of the microwave signal field. The bias polarity is such that this special
condition arises for the forward signal, while the backward signal sees the ferrite as an ordinary
permeable material. Consequently the electromagnetic field of the forward signal tends to be excluded
from the ferrite while the field of the backward wave is concentrated within it. This results in a null of the
electric field of the forward signal on the surface of the ferrite where the resistive film is placed.
Conversely for the backward signal, the electric field is strong over this surface and so its energy is
dissipated in driving current through the film. In rectangular waveguide the ferrite block will typically
occupy the full height from one broad-wall to the other, with the resistive film on the side facing the
centre-line of the guide.
Using a circulator-
A circulator is a non-reciprocal three- or four-port device, in which power entering any port is
transmitted to the next port in rotation (only). So to within a phase-factor, the scattering matrix for a
three-port circulator is

A two-port isolator is obtained simply by terminating one of the three ports with a matched load,
which absorbs all the power entering it. The biassed ferrite is part of the circulator and causes a
differential phase-shift for signals travelling in different directions. The bias field is lower than that
needed for resonance absorption, and so this type of isolator does not require such a heavy permanent
magnet. Because the power is absorbed in an external load, cooling is less of a problem than with a
resonance absorption isolator.




DUPLEXER-

A duplexer is a device that allows bi-directional (duplex) communication over a single path.
In radar and radio communications systems, it isolates the receiver from the transmitter while permitting
them to share a commonantenna. Most radio repeater systems include a duplexer.
Note 1: A duplexer must be designed for operation in the frequency band used by the receiver and
transmitter, and must be capable of handling the output power of the transmitter.
Note 2: A duplexer must provide adequate rejection of transmitter noise occurring at the receive
frequency, and must be designed to operate at, or less than, the frequency separation between the
transmitter and receiver.
Note 3: A duplexer must provide sufficient isolation to prevent receiver desensitization.







































UNIT-3




Klystron-

A klystron is a specialized linear-beam vacuum tube (evacuated electron tube). Klystrons are used
as amplifiers at microwave and radiofrequencies to produce both low-power reference signals
for superheterodyne radar receivers and to produce high-power carrier waves for applications such
as radar and microwave relay transmitters, and the driving force for modern particle accelerators.
Klystron amplifiers have the advantage (over the magnetron) of coherently amplifying a reference
signal so its output may be precisely controlled inamplitude, frequency and phase. Many klystrons
use waveguides for coupling microwave energy into and out of the device, although it is also quite
common for lower power and lower frequency klystrons to use coaxial cable couplings instead. In some
cases a coupling probe is used to couple the microwave energy from a klystron into a separate external
waveguide. Klystrons amplify RF signals by converting the kinetic energy in a DC electron beam into
radio frequency power. A beam of electrons is produced by a thermionic cathode (a heated pellet of
lowwork function material), and accelerated by high-voltage electrodes (typically in the tens of
kilovolts). This beam is then passed through an input cavity. RF energy is fed into the input cavity at, or
near, its natural frequency to produce a voltage which acts on the electron beam. The electric field causes
the electrons to bunch: electrons that pass through during an opposing electric field are accelerated and
later electrons are slowed, causing the previously continuous electron beam to form bunches at the input
frequency. To reinforce the bunching, a klystron may contain additional "buncher" cavities. The RF
current carried by the beam will produce an RF magnetic field, and this will in turn excite a voltage
across the gap of subsequent resonant cavities. In the output cavity, the developed RF energy is coupled
out. The spent electron beam, with reduced energy, is captured in a collector.

TWO CAVITY KLYSTRON AMPLIFIER-



In the two-chamber klystron, the electron beam is injected into a resonant cavity. The electron beam,
accelerated by a positive potential, is constrained to travel through a cylindrical drift tube in a straight
path by an axial magnetic field. While passing through the first cavity, the electron beam is velocity
modulated by the weak RF signal. In the moving frame of the electron beam, the velocity modulation is
equivalent to aplasma oscillation. Plasma oscillations are rapid oscillations of the electron density in
conducting media such as plasmas or metals.(The frequency only depends weakly on the wavelength). So
in a quarter of one period of the plasma frequency, the velocity modulation is converted to density
modulation, i.e. bunches of electrons. As the bunched electrons enter the second chamber they
induce standing waves at the same frequency as the input signal. The signal induced in the second
chamber is much stronger than that in the first. When the tube is energized, the cathode emits electrons
which are focused into a beam by a low positive voltage on the control grid. The beam is then accelerated
by a very high positive dc potential that is applied in equal amplitude to both the accelerator grid and the
buncher grids. The buncher grids are connected to a cavity resonator that superimposes an ac potential on
the dc voltage. Ac potentials are produced by oscillations within the cavity that begin spontaneously
when the tube is energized. The initial oscillations are caused by random fields and circuit imbalances
that are present when the circuit is energized. The oscillations within the cavity produce an oscillating
electrostatic field between the buncher grids that is at the same frequency as the natural frequency of the
cavity. The direction of the field changes with the frequency of the cavity. These changes alternately
accelerate and decelerate the electrons of the beam passing through the grids. The area beyond the
buncher grids is called the DRIFT SPACE. The electrons form bunches in this area when the accelerated
electrons overtake the decelerated electrons.
The function of the CATCHER GRIDS is to absorb energy from the electron beam. The catcher
grids are placed along the beam at a point where the bunches are fully formed. The location is determined
by the transit time of the bunches at the natural resonant frequency of the cavities (the resonant frequency
of the catcher cavity is the same as the buncher cavity). The location is chosen because maximum energy
transfer to the output (catcher) cavity occurs when the electrostatic field is of the correct polarity to slow
down the electron bunches. The feedback path provides energy of the proper delay and phase relationship
to sustain oscillations. A signal applied at the buncher grids will be amplified if the feedback path is
removed.

TWO CAVITY KLYSTRON OSCILLATOR-
The two-cavity amplifier klystron is readily turned into an oscillator klystron by providing
a feedback loop between the input and output cavities. Two-cavity oscillator klystrons have the
advantage of being among the lowest-noise microwave sources available, and for that reason have often
been used in the illuminator systems of missile targeting radars. The two-cavity oscillator klystron
normally generates more power than the reflex klystrontypically watts of output rather than milliwatts.
Since there is no reflector, only one high-voltage supply is necessary to cause the tube to oscillate, the
voltage must be adjusted to a particular value. This is because the electron beam must produce the
bunched electrons in the second cavity in order to generate output power. Voltage must be adjusted to
vary the velocity of the electron beam (and thus the frequency) to a suitable level due to the fixed
physical separation between the two cavities. Often several "modes" of oscillation can be observed in a
given klystron.







REFLEX KLYSTRON-



In the reflex klystron (also known as a 'Sutton' klystron after its inventor, Robert Sutton), the
electron beam passes through a single resonant cavity. The electrons are fired into one end of the tube by
an electron gun. After passing through the resonant cavity they are reflected by a negatively charged
reflector electrode for another pass through the cavity, where they are then collected. The electron beam
is velocity modulated when it first passes through the cavity. The formation of electron bunches takes
place in the drift space between the reflector and the cavity. The voltage on the reflector must be adjusted
so that the bunching is at a maximum as the electron beam re-enters the resonant cavity, thus ensuring a
maximum of energy is transferred from the electron beam to the RF oscillations in the cavity.
The voltage should always be switched on before providing the input to the reflex klystron as the whole
function of the reflex klystron would be destroyed if the supply is provided after the input. The reflector
voltage may be varied slightly from the optimum value, which results in some loss of output power, but
also in a variation in frequency. This effect is used to good advantage for automatic frequency control in
receivers, and in frequency modulation for transmitters. The level of modulation applied for transmission
is small enough that the power output essentially remains constant. At regions far from the optimum
voltage, no oscillations are obtained at all. This tube is called a reflex klystron because it repels the input
supply or performs the opposite function of a klystron.
There are often several regions of reflector voltage where the reflex klystron will oscillate; these are
referred to as modes. The electronic tuning range of the reflex klystron is usually referred to as the
variation in frequency between half power pointsthe points in the oscillating mode where the power
output is half the maximum output in the mode. The frequency of oscillation is dependent on the reflector
voltage, and varying this provides a crude method of frequency modulating the oscillation frequency,
albeit with accompanying amplitude modulation as well.
Modern semiconductor technology has effectively replaced the reflex klystron in most applications.

APPLICATION-

Klystrons can produce far higher microwave power outputs than solid state microwave devices such
as Gunn diodes. In modern systems, they are used from UHF (hundreds of MHz) up through hundreds of
gigahertz (as in the Extended Interaction Klystrons in the CloudSat satellite). Klystrons can be found at
work in radar, satellite and wideband high-power communication (very common
in television broadcasting and EHF satellite terminals), medicine (radiation oncology), and high-energy
physics (particle accelerators and experimental reactors).

Cavity magnetron-


Magnetron with section removed to exhibit the cavities. The cathode in the center is not visible. The
waveguide emitting microwaves is at the left. The magnet producing a field parallel to the long axis of
the device is not shown.


A similar magnetron with a different section removed. Central cathode is visible; antenna conducting
microwaves at the top; magnet is not shown. The cavity magnetron is a high-powered vacuum tube that
generates microwaves using the interaction of a stream of electrons with a magnetic field.
Construction and operation.
All cavity magnetrons consist of a hot cathode with a high (continuous or pulsed) negative potential
created by a high-voltage, direct-current power supply. The cathode is built into the center of an
evacuated, lobed, circular chamber. A magnetic field parallel to the filament is imposed by a permanent
magnet. The magnetic field causes the electrons, attracted to the (relatively) positive outer part of the
chamber, to spiral outward in a circular path, a consequence of the Lorentz force. Spaced around the rim
of the chamber are cylindrical cavities. The cavities are open along their length and connect the common
cavity space. As electrons sweep past these openings, they induce a resonant, high-frequency radio field
in the cavity, which in turn causes the electrons to bunch into groups. (This principle of cavity resonator
is very similar to blowing a stream of air across the open top of a glass pop bottle.) A portion of the field
is extracted with a short antenna that is connected to a waveguide (a metal tube usually of rectangular
cross section). The waveguide directs the extracted RF energy to the load, which may be a cooking
chamber in a microwave oven or a high-gain antenna in the case of radar.

A cross-sectional diagram of a resonant cavity magnetron. Magnetic lines of force are parallel to the
geometric axis of this structure.
The sizes of the cavities determine the resonant frequency, and thereby the frequency of emitted
microwaves. However, the frequency is not precisely controllable. The operating frequency varies with
changes in load impedance, with changes in the supply current, and with the temperature of the tube. This
is not a problem in uses such as heating, or in some forms of radar where the receiver can be
synchronized with an imprecise magnetron frequency. Where precise frequencies are needed, other
devices such as the klystron are used.
The magnetron is a self-oscillating device requiring no external elements other than a power supply.
A well-defined threshold anode voltage must be applied before oscillation will build up; this voltage is a
function of the dimensions of the resonant cavity, and the applied magnetic field. In pulsed applications
there is a delay of several cycles before the oscillator achieves full peak power, and the build-up of anode
voltage must be coordinated with the build-up of oscillator output.
The magnetron is a fairly efficient device. In a microwave oven, for instance, a 1.1 kilowatt input
will generally create about 700 watts of microwave power, an efficiency of around 65%. (The high-
voltage and the properties of the cathode determine the power of a magnetron.) Large S band magnetrons
can produce up to 2.5 megawatts peak power with an average power of 3.75 kW.Large magnetrons can
be water cooled. The magnetron remains in widespread use in roles which require high power, but where
precise frequency control is unimportant.

TRAVELING WAVE TUBE-

The device is an elongated vacuum tube with an electron gun (a heated cathode that emits electrons)
at one end. A magnetic containment field around the tube focuses the electrons into a beam, which then
passes down the middle of an RF circuit (wire helix or coupled cavity) that stretches from the RF input to
the RF output, the electron beam finally striking a collector at the other end. Adirectional coupler, usually
a waveguide or an electromagnetic coil, fed with the low-powered radio signal that is to be amplified, is
positioned near the emitter, and induces a current into the helix.
The RF circuit acts as a delay line, in which the RF signal travels at near the same speed along the
tube as the electron beam. The electromagnetic field due to the RF signal in the RF circuit interacts with
the electron beam, causing bunching of the electrons (an effect called velocity modulation), and the
electromagnetic field due to the beam current then induces more current back into the RF circuit (i.e. the
current builds up and thus is amplified as it passes down).
A second directional coupler, positioned near the collector, receives an amplified version of the input
signal from the far end of the RF circuit. Attenuators placed along the RF circuit prevent the reflected
wave from traveling back to the cathode.
Higher powered Helix TWTs usually contain beryllium oxide ceramic as both a helix support rod
and in some cases, as an electron collector for the TWT because of its special electrical, mechanical, and
thermal properties.

COUPLED CAVITY TWT-

Helix TWTs are limited in peak RF power by the current handling (and therefore thickness) of the
helix wire. As power level increases, the wire can overheat and cause the helix geometry to warp. Wire
thickness can be increased to improve matters, but if the wire is too thick it becomes impossible to obtain
the required helix pitch for proper operation. Typically helix TWTs achieve less than 2.5 kW output
power.
The coupled-cavity TWT overcomes this limit by replacing the helix with a series of coupled
cavities arranged axially along the beam. This structure provides a helical waveguide, and hence
amplification can occur via velocity modulation. Helical waveguides have very nonlinear dispersion and
thus are only narrowband (but wider than klystron). A coupled-cavity TWT can achieve 60 kW output
power.
Operation is similar to that of a klystron, except that coupled-cavity TWTs are designed with
attenuation between the slow-wave structure instead of a drift tube. The slow-wave structure gives the
TWT its wide bandwidth. A free electron laser allows higher frequencies.

TWT AMPLIFIER-

A TWT integrated with a regulated power supply and protection circuits is referred to as a traveling-
wave-tube amplifier (abbreviated TWTA and often pronounced "TWEET-uh"). It is used to produce
high-power radio frequency signals. The bandwidth of a broadband TWTA can be as high as
one octave, although tuned (narrowband) versions exist; operating frequencies range from 300 MHz to
50 GHz.
A TWTA consists of a traveling-wave tube coupled with its protection circuits (as in klystron) and
regulated power supply Electronic Power Conditioner (EPC), which may be supplied and integrated by a
different manufacturer. The main difference between most power supplies and those for vacuum tubes is
that efficient vacuum tubes have depressed collectors to recycle kinetic energy of the electrons, so the
secondary winding of the power supply needs up to 6 taps of which the helix voltage needs precise
regulation. The subsequent addition of a linearizer (as forinductive output tube) can, by complementary
compensation, improve the gain compression and other characteristics of the TWTA; this combination is
called a linearized TWTA (LTWTA, "EL-tweet-uh").
Broadband TWTAs generally use a helix TWT, and achieve less than 2.5 kW output power. TWTAs
using a coupled cavity TWT can achieve 15 kW output power, but at the expense of bandwidth.

USES-

TWTAs are commonly used as amplifiers in satellite transponders, where the input signal is very
weak and the output needs to be high power. A TWTA whose output drives an antenna is a type
of transmitter. TWTA transmitters are used extensively in radar, particularly in airborne fire-control
radar systems, and in electronic warfare and self-protection systems.
[15]
In such applications, a control
grid is typically introduced between the TWT's electron gun and slow-wave structure to allow pulsed
operation. The circuit that drives the control grid is usually referred to as a grid modulator.
Another major use of TWTAs is for the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) testing industry for
immunity testing of electronic devices. TWTAs can often be found in older (pre-1995) aviation SSR
microwave transponders.

Backward Wave Oscillators-

A backward wave oscillator (BWO), also called carcinotron (a trade name for tubes manufactured
by CSF, now Thales) or backward wave tube, is a vacuum tube that is used to generate microwaves up
to the terahertz range. It belongs to the traveling-wave tube family. It is an oscillator with a wide
electronic tuning range.
An electron gun generates an electron beam that is interacting with a slow-wave structure. It sustains
the oscillations by propagating a traveling wave backwards against the beam. The
generated electromagnetic wave power has its group velocity directed oppositely to the direction of
motion of the electrons. The output power is coupled out near the electron gun.
It has two main subtypes, the M-type, the most powerful, (M-BWO) and the O-type (O-BWO).
The O-type delivers typically power in the range of 1 mWat 1000 GHz to 50 mW at 200 GHz.
Carcinotrons are used as powerful and stable microwave sources. Due to the good quality wavefront they
produce (see below), they find use as illuminators in terahertz imaging. The backward wave oscillators
were demonstrated in 1951, M-type by Bernard Epsztein and O-type by Rudolf Kompfner. The M-type
BWO is a voltage-controlled non-resonant extrapolation of magnetron interaction, both types are tunable
over a wide range of frequencies by varying the accelerating voltage. They can be swept through the
band fast enough to be appearing to radiate over all the band at once, which makes them suitable for
effective radar jamming, quickly tuning into the radar frequency. Carcinotrons allowed airborne radar
jammers to be highly effective. However,frequency-agile radars can hop frequencies fast enough to force
the jammer to use barrage jamming, diluting its output power over a wide band and significantly
impairing its efficiency.

THE SLOW WAVE STRUCTURE-


(a) Forward fundamental space harmonic (n=0), (b) Backward fundamental


The needed slow-wave structures must support a Radio Frequency (RF) electric field with a
longitudinal component; the structures are periodic in the direction of the beam and behave like
microwave filters with passbands and stopbands. Due to the periodicity of the geometry, the fields are
identical from cell to cell except for a constant phase shift . This phase shift, a purely real number in a
passband of a lossless structure, varies with frequency. According to Floquet's theorem (see Floquet
theory), the RF electric field E(z,t) can be described at an angular frequency , by a sum of an infinity of
"spatial or space harmonics" E
n

E(z,t)=
where the wave number or propagation constant k
n
of each harmonic is expressed as:
k
n
=(+2n)/p (-<<+)
z being the direction of propagation, p the pitch of the circuit and n an integer.
Two examples of slow-wave circuit characteristics are shown, in the -k or Brillouin diagram:
on figure (a), the fundamental n=0 is a forward space harmonic (the phase velocity v
n
=/k
n
has the same
sign as the group velocity v
g
=d/dk
n
), synchronism condition for backward interaction is at point B,
intersection of the line of slope v
e
- the beam velocity - with the first backward (n = -1) space harmonic,
on figure (b) the fundamental (n=0) is backward
A periodic structure can support both forward and backward space harmonics, which are not modes of
the field, and cannot exist independently, even if a beam can be coupled to only one of them.
As the magnitude of the space harmonics decreases rapidly when the value of n is large, the interaction
can be significant only with the fundamental or the first space harmonic.




UNIT-4







Tunnel Diode-


(Tunnel diode schematic symbol)

A tunnel diode or Esaki diode is a type of semiconductor diode that is capable of very fast
operation, well into the microwave frequency region, by using the quantum mechanical effect
called tunneling. It was invented in August 1957 by Leo Esaki when he was with Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo,
now known as Sony. In 1973 he received the Nobel Prize in Physics, jointly with Brian Josephson, for
discovering the electron tunneling effect used in these diodes. Robert Noyce independently came up with
the idea of a tunnel diode while working for William Shockley, but was discouraged from pursuing it.
[1]

These diodes have a heavily doped pn junction only some 10 nm (100 ) wide. The heavy doping
results in a broken bandgap, where conduction band electron states on the n-side are more or less aligned
with valence band hole states on the p-side.
Tunnel diodes were first manufactured by Sony in 1957
[2]
followed by General Electric and other
companies from about 1960, and are still made in low volume today.
[3]
Tunnel diodes are usually made
from germanium, but can also be made in gallium arsenide and silicon materials. They are used
in frequency converters and detectors.
[4]
They have negative differential resistance in part of their
operating range, and therefore are also used as oscillators, amplifiers, and in switching
circuits using hysteresis.

(Figure : 12 GHz tunnel diode amplifier, circa 1970)
In 1977, the Intelsat V satellite receiver used a microstrip tunnel diode amplifier (TDA) front-end in the
14 to 15.5 GHz band. Such amplifiers are considered state-of-the-art, with better performance at high
frequencies than any transistor-based front end.
[5]

The highest frequency room-temperature solid-state oscillators are based on resonant-tunneling
diode (RTD)

( curve similar to a tunnel diode characteristic curve. It has negative resistance in the shaded voltage
region, between v
1
and v
2
)

In a conventional semiconductor diode, conduction takes place while the pn junction is forward
biased and blocks current flow when the junction is reverse biased. This occurs up to a point known as
the reverse breakdown voltage when conduction begins (often accompanied by destruction of the
device). In the tunnel diode, the dopant concentration in the p and n layers are increased to the point
where the reverse breakdown voltage becomeszero and the diode conducts in the reverse direction.
However, when forward-biased, an odd effect occurs called quantum mechanical tunnelling which gives
rise to a region where an increase in forward voltage is accompanied by a decrease in forward current.
This negative resistance region can be exploited in a solid state version of the dynatron oscillator which
normally uses a tetrode thermionic valve (or tube).
The tunnel diode showed great promise as an oscillator and high-frequency threshold (trigger)
device since it would operate at frequencies far greater than the tetrode would, well into the microwave
bands. Applications for tunnel diodes included local oscillators for UHF television tuners, trigger circuits
in oscilloscopes, high speed counter circuits, and very fast-rise time pulse generator circuits. The tunnel
diode can also be used as low-noise microwave amplifier.
[8]
However, since its discovery, more
conventional semiconductor devices have surpassed its performance using conventional oscillator
techniques. For many purposes, a three-terminal device, such as a field-effect transistor, is more flexible
than a device with only two terminals. Practical tunnel diodes operate at a few milliamperes and a few
tenths of a volt, making them low-power devices.
[9]
The Gunn diode has similar high frequency
capability and can handle more power.
Tunnel diodes are also relatively resistant to nuclear radiation, as compared to other diodes. This
makes them well suited to higher radiation environments, such as those found in space applications.


FORWARD BIASED OPERATION-

Under normal forward bias operation, as voltage begins to increase, electrons at first tunnel through
the very narrow pn junction barrier because filled electron states in the conduction band on the n-side
become aligned with empty valence band hole states on the p-side of the p-n junction. As voltage
increases further these states become more misaligned and the current drops this is called negative
resistance because current decreases with increasing voltage. As voltage increases yet further, the diode
begins to operate as a normal diode, where electrons travel by conduction across the pn junction, and no
longer by tunneling through the pn junction barrier. The most important operating region for a tunnel
diode is the negative resistance region.

REVERSED BIASED OPERATION

When used in the reverse direction they are called back diodes (or backward diodes) and can act as
fast rectifiers with zero offset voltage and extreme linearity for power signals (they have an accurate
square law characteristic in the reverse direction). Under reverse bias filled states on the p-side become
increasingly aligned with empty states on the n-side and electrons now tunnel through the pn junction
barrier in reverse direction.

Microwave devices-

Semiconductor devices used for the detection, generation, amplification, and control of
electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths from 30 cm to 1 mm (frequencies from 1 to 300 GHz). The
number and variety of microwave semiconductor devices, used for wireless and satellite communication
and optoelectronics, have increased as new techniques, materials, and concepts have been developed and
applied. Passive microwave devices, such as pn and PIN junctions, Schottky barrier diodes, and
varactors, are primarily used for detecting, mixing, modulating, or controlling microwave signals. Step-
recovery diodes, transistors, tunnel diodes, and transferred electron devices (TEDs) are active microwave
devices that generate power or amplify microwave signals. See also Microwave; Semiconductor diode.
Typical high-frequency semiconductor materials include silicon (Si), germanium (Ge), and
compound semiconductors, such as gallium arsenide (GaAs), indium phosphide (InP), silicon
germanium (SiGe), silicon carbide (SiC), and gallium nitride (GaN). In general, the compound
semiconductors work best for high-frequency applications due to their higher electron mobilities. See
also Gallium; Germanium; Semiconductor; Silicon.
Passive devices-
A PIN (p-type/intrinsic/n-type) diode is a pn diode that has an undoped (intrinsic) region between
the p- and n-type regions. The use of an intrinsic region in PIN diodes allows for high-power operation
and offers an impedance at microwave frequencies that is controllable by a lower frequency or a direct-
current (DC) bias. The PIN diode is one of the most common passive diodes used at microwave
frequencies. PIN diodes are used to switch lengths of transmission line, providing digital increments of
phase in individual transmission paths, each capable of carryingkilowatts of peak power. PIN diodes
come in a variety of packages for microstrip and stripline packages, and are used as microwave switches,
modulators, attenuators, limiters, phase shifters, protectors, and other signal control circuit elements. See
also Junction diode.
A Schottky barrier diode (SBD) consists of a rectifying metal-semiconductor barrier typically
formed by deposition of a metal layer on a semiconductor. The SBD functions in a similar manner to the
antiquated point contact diode and the slower-response pn-junction diode, and is used for signal mixing
and detection. The point contact diode consists of a metal whisker in contact with a semiconductor,
forming a rectifying junction. The SBD is more rugged and reliable than the point contact diode. The
SBD's main advantage over pn diodes is the absence of minority carriers, which limit the response speed
in switching applications and the high-frequency performance in mixing and detection applications.
SBDs are zero-bias detectors. Frequencies to 40 GHz are available with silicon SBDs, and GaAs SBDs
are used for higher-frequency applications. See also Schottky effect.
The variable-reactance (varactor) diode makes use of the change in capacitance of a pn junction
or Schottky barrierdiode, and is designed to be highly dependent on the applied reverse bias. The
capacitance change results from a widening of the depletion layer as the reverse-bias voltage is increased.
As variable capacitors, varactor diodes are used in tuned circuits and in voltage-controlled oscillators. For
higher-frequency microwave applications, silicon varactors have been replaced with GaAs. Typical
applications of varactor diodes are harmonic generation, frequency multiplication, parametric
amplification, and electronic tuning. Multipliers are used as local oscillators, low-power transmitters, or
transmitter drivers in radar, telemetry, telecommunication, and instrumentation. See also Varactor.
Active devices-
Transistors are the most widely used active microwave solid-state devices. At very high microwave
frequencies, high-frequency effects limit the usefulness of transistors, and two-terminal negative
resistance devices, such as transferred-electron devices, avalanche diodes, and tunnel diodes, are
sometimes used. Two main categories of transistors are used for microwave applications: bipolar junction
transistors (BJTs) and field-effect transistors (FETs). In order to get useful output power at high
frequencies, transistors are designed to have a higher periphery-to-area ratio using a simple stripe
geometry. The area must be reduced without reducing the periphery, as large area means
large interelectrode capacitance. For high-frequency applications the goal is to scale down the size of the
device. Narrower widths of the elements within the transistor are the key to superior high-frequency
performance. See alsoTransistor.
A BJT consists of three doped regions forming two pn junctions. These regions are the emitter, base,
and collector in either an npn or pnp arrangement. Silicon npn BJTs have an upper cutoff frequency of
about 25 GHz (varies with manufacturing improvements). The cutoff frequency is defined as the
frequency at which the current amplificationdrops to unity as the frequency is raised. The primary
limitations to higher frequency are base and emitter resistance, capacitance, and transit time. To operate
at microwave frequencies, individual transistor dimensions must be reduced to micrometer or
submicrometer size. To maintain current and power capability, various forms of internal paralleling on
the chip are used. Three of these geometries are interdigitated fingers that form the emitter and base, the
overlaying of emitter and base stripes, and the matrix approach. Silicon BJTs are mainly used in the
lower microwave ranges. Their power capability is quite good, but in terms of noise they are inferior to
GaAs metal semiconductor field-effect transistors (MESFETs) at frequencies above 1 GHz and are
mainly used in power amplifiers and oscillators. They may also be used in small-signal microwave
amplifiers when noise performance is not critical.See also Electrical noise.
Heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) have been designed with much higher maximum
frequencies than silicon BJTs. HBTs are essentially BJTs that have two or more materials making up the
emitter, base, and collector regions (Fig. 1). In HBTs, the major goal is to limit the injection of holes into
the emitter by using an emitter material with a larger bandgap than the base. The difference in bandgaps
manifests itself as a discontinuity in the conduction band or the valence band, or both. For npn HBTs, a
discontinuity in the valence band is required. In general, to make high-quality heterojunctions, the two
materials should have matching lattice constants. For very thin layers, lattice matching is not absolutely
necessary as the thin layer can be strained to accommodate the crystal lattice of the other material.
Fortunately, the base of a bipolar transistor is designed to be very thin and thus can be made of a strained
layer material. Combinations such as AlGaAs/InGaAs and Si/SiGe are possible. See also Band theory of
solids; Hole states in solids; Semiconductor heterostructures.
Field-effect transistors (FETs) operate by varying the conductivity of a semiconductor channel
through changes in the electric field across the channel. The three basic forms of FETs are the
junction FET (JFET), the metal semiconductor FET (MESFET), and the metal oxide semiconductor FET
(MOSFET). All FETs have a channel with a source and drain region at each end and a gate located along
the channel, which modulates the channel conduction (Fig. 2). Microwave JFETs and MESFETs work by
channel depletion. The channel is n-type and the gate is p-type for JFETs and metal for MESFETs. FET
structures are well suited for microwave applications because all contacts are on the surface to
keep parasitic capacitances small. The cutoff frequency is mainly determined by the transit time of the
electrons under the gate; thus short gate lengths (less than 1 m) are used.
Power devices consist of a number of MESFETs in parallel with air bridges connecting the sources.
GaAs MESFET devices are used in low-noise amplifiers (LNAs), Class C amplifiers, oscillators,
and monolithic microwave integrated circuits. The performance of a GaAs FET is determined primarily
by the gate width and length. The planar structure of a MESFET makes it straightforward to add a second
gate which can be used to control the amplification of the transistor. Dual-gate MESFETs can be used as
mixers (with conversion gain) and for control purposes. Applications include heterodyne mixers
and amplitude modulation of oscillators. See also Amplifier; Heterodyne principle; Mixer;Oscillator.
The MOSFET has a highly insulating silicon dioxide (SiO
2
) layer between the semiconductor and
the gate; however, silicon MOSFETs are not really considered microwave transistors. Compared with the
GaAs MESFET, MOSFETs have lower electron mobility, larger parasitic resistances, and higher noise
levels. Also, since the silicon substrate cannot be made semi-insulating, larger parasitic capacitances
result. MOSFETs therefore do not perform very well above 1 GHz. Below this frequency, MOSFETs
find application mainly as radio-frequency (RF) power amplifiers.
A disadvantage of the MESFET is that the electron mobility is degraded since electrons are scattered
by the ionized impurities in the channel. By using a heterojunction consisting of n-type AlGaAs with
undoped GaAs, electrons move from the AlGaAs to the GaAs and form a conducting channel at the
interface. The electrons are separated from the donors and have the mobility associated with undoped
material. A heterojunction transistor made in this fashion has many different names: high electron
mobility transistor (HEMT), two-dimensional electron gas FET (TEGFET), modulation-doped FET
(MODFET), selectively doped heterojunction transistor (SDHT), and heterojunction FET (HFET). The
HEMT has high power gain at frequencies of 100 GHz or higher with low noise levels.
A monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) can be made using silicon or GaAs technology
with either BJTs or FETs. For high-frequency applications, GaAs FETs are the best choice. A MMIC has
both the active and passive devices fabricated directly on the substrate. MMICs are typically used as low-
noise amplifiers, as mixers, as modulators, in frequency conversion, in phase detection, and as gain block
amplifiers. Silicon MMIC devices operate in the 100-MHz to 3-GHz frequency range. GaAs FET
MMICs are typically used in applications above 1 GHz.
Active microwave diodes-
Active microwave diodes differ from passive diodes in that they are used as signal sources to
generate or amplify microwave frequencies. These include step-recovery, tunnel, Gunn, avalanche, and
transit time diodes, such as impact avalanche and transit-time (IMPATT), trapped plasma avalanche
triggered transit-time (TRAPATT), barrier injection transit-time (BARITT), and quantum well injection
transit time (QWITT) diodes.
A step recovery diode is a special PIN type in which charge storage is used to produce oscillations.
When a diode is switched from forward to reverse bias, it remains conducting until the stored charge has
been removed byrecombination or by the electric field. A step recovery diode is designed to sweep out
the carriers by an electric field before any appreciable recombination has taken place. Thus, the transition
from the conducting to the nonconducting state is very fast, on the order of picoseconds. Because of
the abrupt step, this current is rich in harmonics, so these diodes can be used in frequency multipliers. See
also Frequency multiplier.
For microwave power generation or amplification, a negative differential resistance (NDR)
characteristic at microwave frequencies is necessary. NDR is a phenomenon that occurs when the voltage
(V) and current (I) are 180 out of phase. NDR is a dynamic property occurring only under actual circuit
conditions; it is not static and cannot be measured with an ohmmeter. Transferred electron devices
(TEDs), such as Gunn diodes, and avalanche transit-time devices use NDR for microwave oscillation and
amplification. TEDs and avalanche transit-time devices today are among the most important classes of
microwave solid-state devices. See also Negative-resistance circuits.
The tunnel diode uses a heavily doped abrupt pn junction resulting in an extremely narrow junction
that allows electrons to tunnel through the potential barrier at near-zero applied voltage. This results in
a dip in the current-voltage (I-V) characteristic, which produces NDR. Because this is a majority-carrier
effect, the tunnel diode is very fast, permitting response in the millimeter-wave region. Tunnel diodes
produce relatively low power. The tunnel diode was the first semiconductor device type found to have
NDR. See also Tunnel diode; Tunneling in solids.
Avalanche diodes are junction devices that produce a negative resistance by appropriately combining
impactavalanche breakdown and charge-carrier transit time effects. Avalanche breakdown in
semiconductors occurs if the electric field is high enough for the charge carriers to acquire sufficient
energy from the field to create electron-hole pairs by impact ionization. The avalanche diode is a pn-
junction diode reverse-biased into the avalanche region. By setting the DC bias near the avalanche
threshold, and superimposing on this an alternating voltage, the diode will swing into avalanche
conditions during alternate half-cycles. The hole-electron pairs generated as a result of avalanche action
make up the current, with the holes moving into the p region, and the electrons into the n region. The
carriers have a relatively large distance to travel through the depletion region. At high frequencies, where
the total time lag for the current is comparable with the period of the voltage, the current pulse will lag
the voltage. By making the drift time of the electrons in the depletion region equal to one-half the period
of the voltage, the current will be 180 out of phase. This shift in phase of the current with respect to the
voltage produces NDR, so that the diode will undergo oscillations when placed in a resonant circuit.
A Gunn diode is typically an n-type compound semiconductor, such as GaAs or InP, which has a
conduction band structure that supports negative differential mobility. Although this device is referred to
as a Gunn diode, after its inventor, the device does not contain a pn junction and can be viewed as
a resistor below the threshold electric field (E
thres
). For applied voltages that produce electric fields
below E
thres
, the electron velocity increases as the electric field increases according to Ohm's law. For
applied voltages that produce electric fields above E
thres
, conduction band electrons transfer from a region
of high mobility to low mobility, hence the general name transferred electron device. Beyond E
thres
, the
velocity suddenly slows down due to the significant electron transfer to a lower mobility band producing
NDR. For GaAs, E
thres
is about 3 kV/cm. The Gunn effect can be used up to about 80 GHz for GaAs and
160 GHz for InP. Two modes of operation are common: nonresonant bulk (transit-time)
and resonant limited space-charge accumulation (LSA). See also Electric field.
Impact avalanche and transit-time diodes (IMPATTs) are NDR devices that operate by a
combination of carrier injection and transit time effects. There are several versions of IMPATT diodes,
including simple reverse-biased pndiodes, complicated reverse-biased multidoped pn layered diodes, and
reverse-biased PIN diodes. The IMPATT must be connected to a resonant circuit. At bias turn-on, noise
excites the tuned circuit into a natural oscillation frequency. This voltage adds algebraically across the
diode's reverse-bias voltage. Near the peak positive half-cycle, the diode experiences impact avalanche
breakdown. When the voltage falls below this peak value, avalanche breakdown ceases. A 90 shift
occurs between the current pulse and the applied voltage in the avalanche process. A further 90 shift
occurs during the transit time, for a total 180 shift which produces NDR. An IMPATT oscillator has
higher output power than a Gunn equivalent. However, the Gunn oscillator is relatively noise-free, while
the IMPATT is noisy due to avalanche breakdown.
A trapped plasma avalanche triggered transit-time (TRAPATT) diode is basically a
modified IMPATT diode in which the holes and electrons created by impact avalanche ionization
multiplication do not completely exit from the transit domain of the diode during the negative half-cycle
of the microwave signal. These holes and electrons form a plasma which is trapped in the diode and
participates in producing a large microwave current during the positive half-cycle.
A barrier injection transit-time diode (BARRITT) is basically an IMPATT structure that employs
a Schottky barrier formed by a metal semiconductor contact instead of a pn junction to create similar
avalanche electron injection.
A variety of approaches have been investigated to find alternative methods for injecting carriers into
the drift region without relying on the avalanche mechanism, which is inherently noisy. Quantum well
injection transit-time diodes (QWITT) employ resonant tunneling through a quantum well to inject
electrons into the drift region. The device structure consists of a single GaAs quantum well located
between two AlGaAs barriers in series with a drift region of made of undoped GaAs. This structure is
then placed between two n
+
-GaAs regions to form contacts.
IMPATT diode-

An IMPATT diode (IMPact ionization Avalanche Transit-Time) is a form of high-power diode
used in high-frequency electronics and microwave devices. They are typically made with silicon carbide
owing to their high breakdown fields.
They operate at frequencies between about 3 and 100 GHz or more. A main advantage is their high-
power capability. These diodes are used in a variety of applications from low-power radar systems to
alarms. A major drawback of using IMPATT diodes is the high level of phase noise they generate. This
results from the statistical nature of the avalanche process. Nevertheless these diodes make excellent
microwave generators for many applications.

Device structure
The IMPATT diode family includes many different junctions and metal semiconductor devices. The
first IMPATT oscillation was obtained from a simple silicon p-n junction diode biased into a reverse
avalanche break down and mounted in a microwave cavity. Because of the strong dependence of the
ionization coefficient on the electric field, most of the electronhole pairs are generated in the high field
region. The generated electron immediately moves into the N region, while the generated holes drift
across the P region. The time required for the hole to reach the contact constitutes the transit time delay.
The original proposal for a microwave device of the IMPATT type was made by Read and involved
a structure. The Read diode consists of two regions (i) The Avalanche region (a region with relatively
high doping and high field) in which avalanche multiplication occurs and (ii) the drift region (a region
with essentially intrinsic doping and constant field) in which the generated holes drift towards the
contact. A similar device can be built with the configuration in which electrons generated from the
avalanche multiplication drift through the intrinsic region.
An IMPATT diode generally is mounted in a microwave package. The diode is mounted with its
highfield region close to a copper heatsink so that the heat generated at the diode junction can be readily
dissipated. Similar microwave packages are used to house other microwave devices.
Principle of operation-
Impact ionization
If a free electron with sufficient energy strikes a silicon atom, it can break the covalent bond of
silicon and liberate an electron from the covalent bond. If the electron liberated gains energy by being in
an electric field and liberates other electrons from other covalent bonds then this process can cascade
very quickly into a chain reaction producing a large number of electrons and a large current flow. This
phenomenon is called impact avalanche.
At breakdown, the n region is punched through and forms the avalanche region of the diode. The
high resistivity region is the drift zone through which the avalanche generated electrons move toward the
anode. Consider a dc bias V
B
, just short of that required to cause breakdown, applied to the diode. Let an
AC voltage of sufficiently large magnitude be superimposed on the dc bias, such that during the positive
cycle of the AC voltage, the diode is driven deep into the avalanche breakdown. At t=0, the AC voltage
is zero, and only a small pre-breakdown current flows through the diode. As t increases, the voltage goes
above the breakdown voltage and secondary electron-hole pairs are produced by impact ionization. As
long as the field in the avalanche region is maintained above the breakdown field, the electron-hole
concentration grows exponentially with t. Similarly this concentration decays exponentially with time
when the field is reduced below breakdown voltage during the negative swing of the AC voltage. The
holes generated in the avalanche region disappear in the p+ region and are collected by the cathode. The
electrons are injected into the i zone where they drift toward the n+ region. Then, the field in the
avalanche region reaches its maximum value and the population of the electron-hole pairs starts building
up. At this time, the ionization coefficients have their maximum values. The generated electron
concentration does not follow the electric field instantaneously because it also depends on the number of
electron-hole pairs already present in the avalanche region. Hence, the electron concentration at this point
will have a small value. Even after the field has passed its maximum value, the electron-hole
concentration continues to grow because the secondary carrier generation rate still remains above its
average value. For this reason, the electron concentration in the avalanche region attains its maximum
value at, when the field has dropped to its average value. Thus, it is clear that the avalanche region
introduces a 90 phase shift between the AC signal and the electron concentration in this region.
With a further increase in t, the AC voltage becomes negative, and the field in the avalanche region
drops below its critical value. The electrons in the avalanche region are then injected into the drift zone
which induces a current in the external circuit which has a phase opposite to that of the AC voltage. The
AC field, therefore, absorbs energy from the drifting electrons as they are decelerated by the decreasing
field. It is clear that an ideal phase shift between the diode current and the AC signal is achieved if the
thickness of the drift zone is such that the bunch of electron is collected at the n
+
- anode at the moment
the AC voltage goes to zero. This condition is achieved by making the length of the drift region equal to
the wavelength of the signal. This situation produces an additional phase shift of 90 between the AC
voltage and the diode current.
TRAPATT DIODE-
Trapped Plasma Avalanche Triggered Transit. Its a high-efficiency microwave generator capable of
operating from several hundred megahertz to several gigahertz. Basic operation p-n junction reverse
biased to current densities well in excess of those encountered in normal avalanche operation.
N-type width 2.5 12.5 um, P-type width 2.5 7.5 um, TRAPATT Diode dia 50 70 um for CW
operation @ lower frequency for high peak-power devices.

Principle of operation
As soon as the diode is excited, the charge is accumulated in the depletion region at the junction &
the electric field across the junction increases linearly. When sufficient carriers are generated, it then
depress throughout the depletion region, causing voltage to fall down. During this interval, plasma
formation takes place. Voltage & current continue to decrease to residual value & the plasma is extracted
from the region. As the residual charge is removed, the voltage increases further & the diode charges
again. At some point, the diode is charged fully & maintains a constant voltage across it while current
drops down. When current comes back, the cycle is repeated.
Voltage & Current waveforms for TRAPATT Diode


Mathematical expressions




Applications-
The applications are
a) Phased-array Radar systems.
b) Intermediate frequency transmitters.
c) Proxity fuse sources.
d) Radio altimeters.
e) Microwave landing systems.
f) Air borne & marine radars.

Negative Resistance-

Negative resistance is defined as that property of a device which causes the current through it to be
180 degree out of phase with the voltage across it.



BARITT DIODE-
Barrier Injected Transit Time Diode. The BARITT diode uses injection and transit time
characteristics of minority charge carriers to generate a negative resistance at microwave frequencies.
About the biased in the forward direction boundary layer, the minority charge carriers are injected. The
charge carriers have a low unsaturated drift velocity. This causes the carriers in BARITT diodes to have
a large transit time leading to oscillation only @ low microwave frequencies.





I - V Characteristics of BARITT Diode.












UNIT-5



the microwave test bench with its components-
Klystron Tube- It makes use of velocity modulation to transfer a continuous beam into microwave
power. Electrons emitted from the cathode are accelerated and passed through the positive resonator
towards negative refractor, which retards and finally reflects the electrons; and the electrons turn back
through the resonator. Klystron Power Supply- It basically generates the necessary frequency which is to
be transmitted through waveguide. It provides the beam voltage (anode) and repel voltage (cathode) to
the klystron mount. The mod switch is kept to CW position. Keep the beam voltage control knob to fully
anticlockwise and reflector voltage control knob to clockwise direction. The ranges for beam voltage
240v- 400v and repel voltage 25v-247v. Isolator- The function of isolator is to remove present signal
which are not required from output section/ detector mount to reach klystron mount. It allows sirgnal to
pass through waveguide only in one direction, Klystron supply to detector mount.
Frequency meter- It helps to read the frequency of signal passing through the waveguide setup. It is read
at the intersection of horizontal and vertical red lines. Variable attenuator- It sets the amount of
attenuation to be provided to the signal passing through the waveguide. It can be adjusted through screw
gauge filled over it. Slotted section- in this section the waveguide is slotted by a gap and it is done so as
to adjust the amount or clock cycles of signal so that wavelength with respect to which it can be
measured using vernier scale. Detector mount- The signals transmitted by the waveguide is forwarded
through the BNC to VSWR or CRO so as to measure its characteristics.



VSWR- Voltage Standing Wave Ratio Meter: When the characteristic impedance and load impedance
does not match maximum power transfer does not take place and only those waves are preferred which
are standing in nature.So,VSWR = Vmax / VmainCSWR = Imin / ImaxRange of VSWR is >1 i.e. 1
Relation with reflection coefficient: To calculate the amount of reflected wave reflection wave reflection
coefficient determines it.ZR = (ZL Z0) / (ZL + Z0) ZL= Load impedance Z0 = Characteristic
Impedance. Range of ZR is -1to 1.
>> It is proved with two scales i.e. of SWR and dB and each scale of SWR has two modes
Normal Expand In the SWR scale the normal mode has 1-4 then scale expand mode it is 3-10 for dB
scale. Normal mode has 0-10 and dB scale expanded dB has 0-2.

SWR METER-

The SWR meter or VSWR (voltage standing wave ratio) meter measures the standing wave
ratio in a transmission line. The meter can be used to indicate the degree of mismatch between
a transmission line and its load (usually a radio antenna), or evaluate the effectiveness of impedance
matchingefforts.

(An SWR meter) (A simple directional SWR meter)
A directional SWR meter measures the magnitude of the forward & reflected waves by sensing each
one individually, with directional couplers. A calculation can then be performed to arrive at the SWR.
Referring to the above diagram, the transmitter (TX) and antenna (ANT) terminals are connected via an
internal transmission line. This main line is electromagnetically coupled to two smaller sense lines
(directional couplers) which are terminated with resistors at one end, and diode rectifiers at the other.
Sometimes a printed circuit board using three parallel traces is used to make the transmission line and the
two sensing lines. The resistors are chosen to match the characteristic impedance of the sense lines. The
diodes convert the magnitudes of the forward & reverse waves to FWD and REV DC voltages,
respectively, which are then smoothed by the capacitors.
[1]

To calculate the VSWR, first calculate the reflection coefficient:

Then calculate the VSWR:

In a passive meter, this is usually indicated on a non-linear scale.

SWR BRIDGE-

(Interior view of an SWR meter.)
SWR can also be measured using an impedance bridge circuit. The bridge is balanced (0 volts across
the detector) only when the test impedance exactly matches the reference impedance. When a
transmission line is mismatched (SWR > 1:1), its input impedance deviates from its characteristic
impedance; thus, a bridge can be used to determine the presence or absence of a low SWR.
To test for a match, the reference impedance of the bridge is set to the expected load impedance (for
example, 50 ohms), and the transmission line connected as the unknown impedance. RF power is applied
to the circuit. The voltage at the line input represents the vector sum of the forward wave, and the wave
reflected from the load. If the characteristic impedance of the line is known to be 50 ohms, we know the
magnitude and phase of the forward wave; it is the same wave present on the other side of the detector.
Subtracting this known wave from the wave present at the line input yields the reflected wave. Properly
designed, a bridge circuit can be used not only to indicate a match, but the degree of mismatch - thus
making it possible to calculate the SWR. This usually involves alternately connecting the reference wave
and the reflected wave to a power meter, and comparing the magnitudes of the resulting deflections.

LIMITATIONS-
Note that an SWR meter does not measure the actual impedance of a load (i.e., the resistance and
reactance), but only the mismatch ratio. To measure the actual impedance, an antenna analyzer or other
similar RF measuring device is required. Note also that for accurate readings, the SWR meter must be
matched to the line impedance, usually 50 or 75 ohms. To accommodate multiple impedances, some
SWR meters have switches on the rear, to select the resistance appropriate for the sense lines.
An SWR meter should be connected to the line as close as possible to the antenna: All practical
transmission lines have a certain amount of loss, which causes the reflected wave to be attenuated as it
travels back along the line. Thus, the SWR is highest closest to the load, and only improves as the
distance from the load increases.
[3]

When not actually measuring SWR, it is best to remove the more usual types of passive SWR meter
from the line. This is because the internal diodes of such meters can generate harmonicswhen
transmitting, and intermodulation products when receiving. Because active SWR meters do not usually
suffer from this effect, they can normally be left in without causing such problems.

CRYSTAL DETECTOR-
A cats whisker detector (sometimes called a crystal detector) is an antique electronic
component consisting of a thin wire that lightly touches a crystal of semiconducting mineral
(usually galena) to make a crude point-contact rectifier.

(Galena cat's whisker detector)
The tip of the wire contacting the surface of the crystal formed a crude and unstable point-
contactmetalsemiconductor junction, forming a Schottky barrier diode. This junction conducts electric
currentin only one direction and resists current flowing in the other direction. In a crystal radio, its
function was to rectify the radio signal, converting it from alternating current to a pulsing direct current,
to extract theaudio signal (modulation) from the radio frequency carrier wave. The metal whisker is
the anode and the crystal is the cathode; current flows from the whisker into the crystal but not in the
other direction.
Only certain sites on the crystal surface functioned as rectifying junctions. The device was very
sensitive to the exact geometry and pressure of contact between wire and crystal. Therefore it was made
adjustable, and a usable point of contact was found by trial and error before each use. The wire was
suspended from a moveable arm, and was dragged across the crystal face by the operator until the device
began functioning. In a crystal radio, the operator would tune the radio to a strong local station if
possible, and then adjust the cat's whisker until the station or static sounds was heard in the radio's
earphones. This required some skill and a great deal of patience; even then a good contact could easily be
lost by the slightest vibration. An alternate method of adjustment was to use a battery-operated buzzer to
generate a test signal. The spark at the buzzer's contacts functioned as a weak radio transmitter, so when
the crystal began functioning the buzz could be heard in the earphones, and the buzzer was turned off

CRYSTAL-


(Diagram of a crystal radio)
A natural mineral crystal forms the semiconductor side of the junction. The most common crystal
used was galena (PbS, lead sulfide), a naturally occurring ore of lead, although many other minerals were
also used including zincite, bornite and carborundum.
[3]
Galena is a semiconductor with a small bandgap
of about 0.4 eV, and is used without treatment directly as it is mined. However not all galena crystals
would function in a detector; galena with good detecting properties was rare and had no reliable visual
characteristics distinguishing it from galena samples with poor detecting properties. A rough pebble of
detecting mineral about the size of a pea was mounted in a metal cup, which formed one side of the
circuit. The electrical contact between the cup and the crystal had to be good, because this contact
must not act as a second rectifying junction, which would prevent the device from functioning. To make
good contact with the crystal, it was either clamped with setscrews or mounted in solder. Because the
relatively high melting temperature of tin-lead solder can damage many crystals, a low melting point
(well under 200F) alloy such as Wood's metal was used. One surface was left exposed to allow contact
with the cat's whisker wire.
Wave length measurement-
A Lecher line is a pair of parallel uninsulated wires or rods held a precise distance apart. The
separation is not critical but should be a small fraction of the wavelength; it ranges from less than a
centimeter to over 10 cm. The length of the wires depends on the wavelength involved; lines used for
measurement are generally several wavelengths long. The uniform spacing of the wires makes them
a transmission line, conducting radio waves at a constant speed very close to the speed of light. One end
of the rods is connected to the source of RF power, such as the output of a radio transmitter. At the other
end the rods are connected together with a conductive bar between them. This short
circuiting termination reflects the waves. The waves reflected from the short-circuited end interfere with
the outgoing waves, creating a sinusoidal standing wave of voltage and current on the line. The voltage
goes to zero at nodes located at multiples of half a wavelength from the end, with maxima
called antinodes located midway between the nodes. Therefore the wavelength can be determined by
finding the location of two successive nodes (or antinodes) and measuring the distance between them,
and multiplying by two. The frequency f of the waves can be calculated from the wavelength and the
speed of the waves, which is the speed of light c:

The nodes are much sharper than the antinodes, because the change of voltage with distance along the
line is maximum at the nodes, so they are used.

Finding the nodes-
Two methods are employed to find the nodes. One is to use some type of voltage indicator, such as
an RF voltmeter or light bulb, attached to a pair of contacts that slide up and down the wires.
[7]
When the
bulb reaches a node, the voltage between the wires goes to zero, so the bulb goes out. One problem with
this method is that the indicator can disturb the standing wave on the line, causing reflections. To prevent
this a high impedance indicator must be used; a regular incandescent bulb has too low resistance. Lecher
and early researchers used long thin Geissler tubes, laying the glass tube directly across the line. The high
voltage of early transmitters excited a glow discharge in the gas. In modern times small neon bulbs are
often used. One problem with using glow discharge bulbs is their high striking voltage makes it difficult
to localize the exact voltage minimum. In precision wavemeters an RF voltmeter is used.
The other method used to find the nodes is to slide the terminating shorting bar up and down the line,
and measure the current flowing into the line with an RF ammeter in the feeder line. The current on the
Lecher line, like the voltage, forms a standing wave with nodes (points of minimum current) every half
wavelength. So the line presents an impedance to the applied power which varies with its length; when a
current node is located at the entrance to the line, the current drawn from the source, measured by the
ammeter, will be minimum. The shorting bar is slid down the line and the position of two successive
current minima is noted, the distance between them is half a wavelength.
Construction-
A major attraction of Lecher lines was they were a way to measure frequency without complicated
electronics, and could be improvised from simple materials found in a typical shop. Lecher line
wavemeters are usually built on a frame which holds the conductors rigid and horizontal, with a track that
the shorting bar or indicator rides on, and a built in measuring scale so the distance between nodes can be
read out. The frame is usually made of a nonconductive material like wood, because any conducting
objects near the line can disturb the standing wave pattern.
In many ways Lecher lines are an electrical version of the Kundt's tube experiment which is used to
measure the wavelength of sound waves.

INSERTION LOSS-
In telecommunications, insertion loss is the loss of signal power resulting from the insertion of a
device in a transmission line or optical fiber and is usually expressed in decibels (dB).
If the power transmitted to the load before insertion is P
T
and the power received by the load after
insertion is P
R
, then the insertion loss in dB is given by,


Insertion loss is a figure of merit for an electronic filter and this data is generally specified with a
filter. Insertion loss is defined as a ratio of the signal level in a test configuration without the filter
installed (|V
1
|) to the signal level with the filter installed (|V
2
|). This ratio is described in dB by the
following equation:


Note that, for most filters, |V
2
| will be smaller than |V
1
|. In this case, the insertion loss is positive and
measures how much smaller the signal is after adding the filter. In case the two measurement ports use
the same reference impedance, the insertion loss ( ) is defined as
[1][2]
:


and not, as often mistakenly thought, by:
dB.

It is the extra loss produced by the introduction of the DUT between the 2 reference planes of the
measurement. Notice that the extra loss can be introduced by intrinsic loss in the DUT and/or mismatch.
In case of extra loss the insertion loss is defined to be positive.
For more detail, see the main article on Scattering Parameters.

ANTENNA MEASUREMENT-
Antenna measurement techniques refers to the testing of antennas to ensure that the antenna meets
specifications or simply to characterize it. Typical parameters of antennas are gain, radiation pattern,
beamwidth, polarization, and impedance.
The antenna pattern is the response of the antenna to a plane wave incident from a given direction or
the relative power density of the wave transmitted by the antenna in a given direction. For a reciprocal
antenna, these two patterns are identical. A multitude of antenna pattern measurement techniques have
been developed. The first technique developed was the far-field range, where the antenna under test
(AUT) is placed in the far-field of a range antenna. Due to the size required to create a far-field range for
large antennas, near-field techniques were developed, which allow the measurement of the field on a
surface close to the antenna (typically 3 to 10 times its wavelength). This measurement is then predicted
to be the same at infinity. A third common method is the compact range, which uses a reflector to create
a field near the AUT that looks approximately like a plane-wave.


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