emitting at 964 nm wavelength.

Here, the hysteresis width and output

power discontinuity are 11 pA and 510 pW, respectively. The corresponding voltage discontinuity of about 17 mV occurs at the switching
points and can be explained by the sudden change in carrier density in
the active regions owing to the abrupt optical turn-on and turn-off
behaviour.
3.44

3.42
3.41

PAN, Z.G., JIANG, S., DAGENAIS, M., MORGAN, R.A., KOJIMA, K., ASOM, M.T.,
LEIBENGUTH, R.E., GUTH, G.D., and FOCHT, M.W.: Optical injection induced

polarization bistability in vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, Appl.

Phys. Lett., 1993,63, (22), pp. 2999-3001
KAWAGUCHI, H., HIDAYAT, LS., TAKAHASHI, Y., and YAMAYOSHI, Y.:
Pitchfork bifurcation polarisation bistability in vertical-cavity surfaceemitting lasers, Electron. Lett., 1995, 31, (2), pp. 109-1 11

3.40

2.82

2.83

2.84

- 3.39
3.38
2.86

2.85

T. Knodl, M. Golling, R. Michalzik and K.J. Ebeling (University of

Ulm, Department of Optoelectronics, Albert-Einstein-Allee 45, 89081
Ulm, Germany)

References

I ,

4 February 2002

E-mail: thomas.!aoedl@e-technik.uni-ulm.de
K.J. Ebeling: Also with Infineon Technologies, Munich, Germany

3.43

0 IEE 2002
Electronics Letters Online No: 20020238
Dol: 10.1049/e1:20020238

current, mA

Fig. 3 Bistable L-I and I-V characteristicsof 964 nm wavelength bipolar

cascade VCSELfrom Fig. 2
As a direct effect of carrier recycling the investigated singlemode
cascade devices exhibit slope efficiencies of about 33 to 38% that are
significantly higher than those measured for conventional one-stage
reference VCSELs (21 to 23%). For comparison, Fig. 4 shows the
typical L-Z characteristic of a conventional one-stage VCSEL and of a
two-stage bipolar cascade VCSEL at about 972 nm emission wavelength. The increase in differential quantum efficiency indicates that both
active regions in the cascade VCSELs contribute to lasing. Thus, the
presented design can combine bistability and increased roundtrip gain.

JEANNES, E, PATRIARCHE, G., AZOULAY, R., OUGAZZADEN, A,, LANDREAU,

J.L., and OUDAR, J.L.: Submilliwatt optical bistability in wafer fused

vertical cavity at 1.55 pm wavelength, IEEE Photonics Technol. Lett.,

1996, 8, (4), pp. 539-541
BOHN, M.J., and MCINERNEY, J.G.: Bistable output of an optically pumped
vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser, J. Opt. SOC.Am. B, 1997,14, (12),
pp. 343G-3436
TANG, x., VAN DER ZIEL, J.P., CHANF, B., JOHNSON, R., and TATUM, J.A.:
Observation of bistabilityin GaAs quantum-well vertical-cavity surfaceemitting lasers, IEEE .
I
Quantum Electron., 1997, 33, (6), pp. 927-932
LIM, S E , HUDGINGS, J.A., LI, G.s., YUEN, w., LAU, K.Y., and CHANGHASNAIN, c.J.: Self-pulsating and bistable VCSEL with controllable
intracavity quantum-well saturable absorber, Electron. Lett., 1997, 33,
(20), pp. 1708-1710
FISCHER, A.J., CHOQUETTE, K.D., CHOW, w.w., ALLERMAN, A.A., and
GEIB, K.M.: Bistable output from a coupled-resonator vertical-cavity
laser diode, Appl. Phys. Lett., 2000, 77, (21), pp. 3319-3321
KNODL, T., STRAUB, A,, GOLLING, M., MICHALZIK, R., and EBELING, K.J.:
Scalingbehavior of bipolar cascade VCSELs, IEEE Photonics Technol.
Lett., 2001, 13, (9), pp. 930-932

Magneto-inductive waveguide
E. Shamonina, VIA. Kalinin, K.H. Ringhofer and L. Solymar

0.2 -

./-

0.4

r = 21oc

A new magnetic waveguide is described the operation of which is

based on inductive coupling between resonant elements. The general
form of the dispersion equation is shown. For a particular embodiment
of the waveguide, consisting of 26 elements, the relative values of the
currents are plotted and the travel of power from the first to the last
element is shown by the streamlines of the Poynting vector. Application, as a magnetic guide for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is
proposed.

conventional VCSEL
I = 972 n m

,/

Conclusion: We have presented data on bipolar cascade VCSELs

which exhibit optical and electrical bistability loops owing to saturable absorption. The bistability strongly depends on the detuning
between resonance wavelength and gain maximum that is attributed to
the wavelength and carricr density dependent absorption coefficient.
Moreover, the presented cascade VCSELs also provide additional
roundtrip gain compared to conventional one-stage lasers. Therefore,
applications such as optical switching and optical memory may also
arise for bipolar cascade VCSELs. In future we will investigate the
bistability loops with respect to temperature as well as cascade
VCSEL design variations.
Acknowledgments: The authors would like to thank C. Eichler and
S.S. Schad for making the precision measurement setup available and
H.K.H. Choy for helpful discussions

ELECTRONICS LETTERS

7 7th April 2002

There has been much interest in recent years in metamaterials, the

dielectric constant and permeability of which can exhibit resonances
and possess regions in which both these constants are negative [l]. One
of the potential applications of these materials is in magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI) where signals at the RF frequency of nuclear resonance
need to be guided to a receiving coil [2]. The reason for using
metamaterials is that conventional magnetic materials disturb the
homogeneity of the applied constant magnetic field. However if the
aim is merely to guide magnetic fields at a particular frequency then a
densely packed metamaterial (e.g. the Swiss roll [2]) may not be the
best solution. Alternatives in the form of a linear periodic array of
magnetically-coupled elements may also exist.
The simplest embodiment of the waveguide is in the form of a finite
array (N elements) of capacitively-loaded loops of radius ro placed at a
distance d from each other as shown in the schematic diagram (Fig. 1).
The excitation is assumed to be by a voltage Vof frequency o in loop 1,
and the waveguide is terminated by a load impedance of ZL = RL +jXL
in the last element. The guiding action takes place by each of the
elements being coupled to all other elements. Note that the presence of
a capacitance in each loop is necessary for the existence of propagating
longitudinal waves. The dispersion relationship may be obtained by
considering the current induced in one of the elements. It may be

Vol. 38 No. 8

37 1

written in the simple form

P

wi/w2- 1 j / Q =

K,,

(1)

cosh(nyd)

,,=I

where wo= ,/( 1ILC), Q = o L / R , L, C and R are the self-inductance,

capacitance and resistance of the loops, respectively, K , = 2Mn/L, M, is
the mutual inductance between two loops a distance nd from each other,
y = CI +jp, and p and CI are the propagation and attenuation coefficients,
respectively. Expressions for the self- and mutual-inductances in the
approximation of no retardation are well known in the literature [3],the
latter being obtained in terms of elliptic functions. The upper limit of
the summation, p , depends on how far the elements are from each other.

elements for a particular example and the vectorial flow of power to

the load impedance. Its most likely potential application in the near
future is in MRI as a narrowband guide but it may of course have
many applications in the MHz and low GHz regions whenever
transmission and filtering are simultaneously required. Our work
also has implications upon the behaviour of metamateriais. If our
units of capacitively-loaded loops are made into a three-dimensional
metamaterial then waves can exist in all dircctions; calculations
analogous to those in this Letter could be easily carried out yielding
w =constant surfaces in three-dimensional /l
space. The presence of
these waves deserves further attention.
10,

05

"V

=5
E

Fig. 1 Geometry of structure

We note that if the distance between the elements is sufficiently large

then only nearest neighbour interactions need to be taken into account,
p = 1, and analytical solutions may be obtained for p, CI and the value of
Z, that yields a pure travelling wave. In the example that follows it was
necessary to take into account interactions up to the fifth neighbour.
The dispersion equation (the relationship between w/wo, /Id and ctd)
is shown in Fig. 2 for a particular set of parameters obtained by making
the loop out of copper, choosing the loop radius and the wire radius as
1 cm and 1 mm, respectively, and taking d/ro = 1 (Helmholtz configuration). The capacitance, assuming it is in bulk form, is determined so
that 00 = 27t x 63.78 . 1O6 rad/s, which is the resonance frequency of a
proton in a magnetic field of 1.5 T.

'I

-05

-1 0

-1 .o

-0.5

Fig. 3 Plot of currents I,? (normalised to I / ) in complex plane

attenuation coefficient ad
0

771200

1 .o

0.5

Rev")

zlro
7711 00

25

24

26

$ 0
7712

-2

propagation coefficient pd

10

15

20

25

z/ro

Fig. 2 Dispersion relationship

Taking 26 elements, w = 00 and an optimum load impedance (which

gives the best approximation to a travelling wave) the current distribution is shown in Fig. 3 in the complex plane. It may be seen that the
current duly decays as it propagates along the line and that the phase
angles between subsequent currents are about the same.
Owing to the simplicity of our structure we can determine not only
the currents (which could be obtained from pure circuit considerations)
but the corresponding electric and magnetic fields as well. The
magnetic field will have longitudinal and radial components whereas
the electric field will have only an azimuthal component. There is
clearly a Poynting vector that shows power travelling from the first loop
where the power is generated to the last loop where it is finally absorbed
(Fig. 4). The inset in Fig. 4 shows in more detail what happens at the
last loop: the streamlines which come from outside are divided from the
streamlines which come from inside by a singularity (denoted by P).
Conclusion: We have presented the main features of a novel waveguide, its dispersion characteristics, the distribution of current in the

37 2

Fig. 4 Streamlines of Poynting vector in x-z plane

. . . cross-sections of loops
Inset: Detail of streamlines at last loop

Acknowledgment: E. Shamonina acknowledges financial support by

the Emmy-Noether Programme of the German Research Council.

0 IEE 2002
Electronics Letters Online No: 20020258
DOI: 10.1049/e1:20020258

30 Junuary 2002

E. Shamonina and L. Solyinar (Department of Engineering Science,

Universiy of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PJ United Kingdom)
E-mail: laszlo.solymar@eng.ox.ac.uk

V.A. Kalinin (Transense Technologies Ltd., Upper Heyford, Bicester,

Oxon. OX25 SHD,United Kingdom)
K.H. Ringhofer (Department of Physics, University of Osnabriick,
D-49069 Osnabriick, Germany)

ELECTRONICS LETTERS

I lth April 2002

Vol. 38

No. 8

References
1

and STEWART, w.J.: Magnetism

from conductors and enhanced nonlinear phenomena, fEEE Trans.
Microw. Theory Tech., 1999, 47, pp. 2075-2084

WILTSHIRE. M.C.K., PENDRS, J.B., YOUNG, I.R., LARKMAN, D.J.,

GILDERDALE, D J., and HAJNAL, J.V: Microstructured magnetic materials

PENDRY, J.H., HOLDEN, A.I., RoBBiNs, D.J.,

for RF flux guides in magnetic resonance imaging, Science, 2001, 291,

(5S05), pp. 849-851
3 LANDAU, L D., and LIFSHIZ. E.M.: Electrodynamics of continuous media
(Pergamon Press, Oxford UK, 1984)

Fast electromagnetic characterisation

method of thin planar materials using
coplanar line up to V-band

Extraction method: The extraction method of the dielectric substrate

properties is based on S-parameter measurements achieved at the
coplanar access planes. It requires the propagation to be the quasiTEM dominant mode and dispersion to be low ( h > W+2s). The
reflection/transmission method [5] allows the first reflection (r)to be
obtained at the input of the coplanar cell and the first transmission ( r )
along the coplanar cell of length d. The resolution of the reflection/
transmission methods equations leads to the terms of complex
effective permittivity and permeability [ 5 , 61. However, for nonmagnetic materials to be measured, it is possible to increase the accuracy
of the E:. and E: characteristics by fixing the permeability at I in the
reflection/transmission method. This leads us to look for only one
complex unknown instead of two. Two equations can then be
determined [6, 71:
t&f/

(g)2.@

J. Hinojosa, K. Lmimouni and G. Dambrine

A very broadband method for determiningthe electromagnetic properties of isotropic thin planar materials, which uses a coplanar line as a

cell, is presented. The complex permittivity is quickly computed from

S-parametermeasurements of coplanar cells propagating the dominant
mode by using analytical equations. Measurements between 0.05 and
75 GHz of alumina and doped silicon show good agreement between
measured and predicted values.

where Z, is the characteristic impedance of the test device (50 Q) and

Zb is the characteristic impedance of the coplanar cell when E,. = p,. = 1,
which is computed from an analytical equation [3].
In the case of (I), owing to the periodic behaviour of the coplanar cell
with frequency, dimensional resonances appear on the Sll and
parameters at frequencies corresponding to integer multiples of one
half wavelength (Q. At these particular frequencies, the S I Iand
magnitudes are small and the phase uncertainties are large [6-81. This
leads to the appearance of inaccuracy peaks in the computed complex E,.
values. These inaccurate peaks can be avoided by using (2) as in [7].
The exchange between complex effective permittivity and the sample
desired relative permittivity (E,) is obtained from analytical equations
[3,41:

(3)
(4)
where qtg 6,,,/1= (1 -(~;)-)/(l - (E:.&)
is the filling factor for the
effective dielectric loss [4] and tg Sder*= E & / E ; . ~ The parameters k, kl ,
k and k; are bound to the coplanar line structure. K(k), K(k), K(kl),
K(k;) are the complete elliptical integrals of first order of modulus k and
k , and complementary modulus k and k ; . These integrals are also
obtained by analytical equations [4].

51.O-

(0

H: I
(io\
50.5-+$

+-

73

.._E

50.0-

.-

. . .

iii)

W+2S=175ym
h=635 pm

coplanar cell

E2
;
49.549.0!

v ti IS L

h r r E , pr

10 15 20 25

30 35 40 45, 50 55 60 65 70 75
frequency, GHz

Fig. 1 Coplanar characteristic impedances against frequency and various

substrates
Coplanar configurations have been optimised to SO R and values have been
computed from spectral domain approach numerical method [2]
(i) W c,= 10 -jO.O, AI, = 1 -;O.O
(ii)
c,= IO-jO.1, &.=0.6-;0.006
(iii) A E,.= IO-jl.0, /1,.=3-jO.3

Measurement bench: To implement measurements with coplanar

cells up to 75 GHz, we have chosen two commercially available onwafer systems covering DC-40 GHz and 50-75 GHz, which use
coplanar lines as probes. They allow different sizes of coplanar line
and easy and fast measurements to be implemented without thermocompression between the on-wafer system and the coplanar cell.
The S-parameters measurements are repeatable and accurate. The
calibration procedure uses a line-reflect-match (LRM) covering
0.05-75 GHz, since the quasi-TEM mode dispersion of the 50 !2
characteristic impedance coplanar standard lines on alumina substrate
is very low. The two obtained reference planes are the outputs of the
two probes. Retum losses, insertion losses and repeatability were
better than - 15, - 1 and -50 dB, respectively, in the 0:05 to 75 GHz
frequency range.
Results: Alumina (~$=9.85, ~:<0.001 at 10 GHz, pv= 1) (Fig. 2)
and doped silicon (E: = 1 1.7, 40 Q c m < p < 60 R cm) (Fig. 3) with
well-known dielectric properties were measured in the 0.05 to 40 GHz
and 50 to 75 GHz frequency ranges at room temperature. The
coplanar cells were made from thin-film technology (gold conductor)

~41.
In this Letter we present an easy and fast complex permittivity
extraction method of the coplanar substrates from S-parameter measurements, which takes into account the quasi-TEM mode. The S-parameter
measurement bench employs vector network analysers and coinmercially available high-quality on-coplanar test fixtures covering
0 . 0 5 4 0 and 50-75 GHz without the necessity to make a transition
between the network analyser and the sample-cell as in [l].

ELECTRONICS LETTERS

11th April 2002

The measured E: values for alumina (Fig. 2) and doped silicon

(Fig. 3) correspond to those anticipated. The error is lower than 3%
with regard to the manufacturer values at frequencies above 5 GHz. At
frequencies below 5 GHz, the large errors on E: are due to large
uncertainties on the S-parameters. Various integer multiples of one
half wavelength are required to increase the accuracy of the complex
permittivity with this method [6, 71. As can be seen from Figs. 2 and 3,

Vol. 38 No. 8

373