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ECE 6351/5317
Microwave Engineering
Exam 1
Fall, 2011
Instructions
1) This exam is open book and notes. Calculators and Smith
chart tools (e.g. compasses and rulers) may be used. Laptops
and any devices that may be used for communication are not
allowed.
2) If you need a Smith chart, please ask the instructor.
3) Please show all of your work and write neatly in order to receive
credit.
4) Put all of your answers in terms of the parameters given in the
problems, unless otherwise noted.
5) Include units with all numerical answers in order to receive full
credit.
6) For all solutions, no credit will be given if the work required to
obtain the solution is not shown.
7) Perform all your work on the paper and charts provided. If you
need more space, you may write on the backs of the pages.

You will have a total of 80 minutes.

Problem 1
For the following transmission line matching circuit, assume a 1 [V] wave is incident
upon the 50 to 25 junction. That is, the incident voltage wave is described by

Vinc z (1) e

jk z 1 z L

where kz1 is the wavenumber on the 50 line (line 1), and L is the length of the 25 line
(line 2), given by L g 2 / 4 , where

g 2 is the guided wavelength on the 25 line

a) Derive formulas for the voltage V(z) and the current I(z) on the 25 line.

b) Determine the SWR on the 50 line and the 25 line.

c) Use the Smith chart to find the input impedance (in Ohms) at a point that is at
z L 0.1g1 , where g1 is the guided wavelength on the 50 line. Show your
work on the attached Smith chart below.

Incident wave

I z

L g 2 / 4

V z

50

Z L 100

25

Line 1

Line 2

Room for additional work

Part (a)

V z Ae jkz 2 z 1 Le j 2 kz 2 z

I z

A jkz 2 z
e
1 Le j 2 kz 2 z

Z 02

where

100 25
0.6 .
100 25

At the left end of line 2 we have

V L Ae jkz 2 L 1 Le j 2kz 2 L Vinc z 1 in 11 in .

Hence

jk z 2 L

1 in
.
1 Le j 2kz 2L

We also have

Z Z 01
25 6.25
in in
; Zin

Zin Z 01
100
2

so

in 0.77777 .

Part (b)
Since the load impedance is purely real, on line 2 we have

SWR2

100
4.0 .
25

Since the input impedance looking into the transformer is also purely real, we have

SWR1

50
8.0 .
6.25

Part (c)
The normalized input impedance looking into the transformer is

Z Ln

6.25
0.125.
50

We start form this and rotate on the Smith chart a distance of 0.1 wavelengths. This gives
us an approximate normalized input impedance of

Zin,n 0.18 j 0.70 .

Hence, we have

Zin 9.0 j 35 .

Room for additional work

Problem 2
A coaxial cable has a 50 characteristic impedance. The outer diameter of the coax is
1.0 cm. The inner wire is made of copper with a conductivity of 3.0 107 [S/m]. The
outer shield is made of braided copper with an effective conductivity of 1.0 107 [S/m].
The filling material is Teflon, with a relative permittivity of r 2.2 and a loss tangent of
tan 0.001 .

a) Calculate the dielectric and conductor attenuation in [np/m] at 12 GHz.

b) Calculate the total attenuation in dB at 12 GHz, if the signal travels a distance of 10
meters.
c) Calculate the frequency at which the first waveguide mode will start to propagate on
the coax.
d) Calculate the maximum power that the coax can handle, assuming that the Teflon will
breakdown when the electric field reaches a level of 1.97107 [V/m].

Part (a)

d Im k Im k0 r 1 j tan

and

1
1 Rsa Rsb

.
2 Z 0lossless a
b

We have

Z0lossless 50 .
For the dimensions we have

b 0.5 cm
and

Z 0lossless 50

0
b
ln ,
2 r a

which gives us

a 0.1453 cm .
Also,

Rsi

i i

; i

0 i

, i a, b .

We then have

d 0.1865 [np/m]

c 0.1309 [np/m] .

Part (b)

0.3174 [np/m]
or

2.757 [dB/m] .
Hence we have

Attenuation 27.57 [dB] .

Part (c)
The cutoff frequency of the TE11 waveguide mode is given (approximately) as

fc

1
.
a r 1 b / a

Hence we have

fc 9.97 [GHz]

Part (d)
For a given voltage V0, the electric field inside the coax is given by

V0
.
b
ln
a

Hence we set

V0
Ec 1.97 107 V/m .
b
a ln
a
This gives us

V0 3.537 104 V 35.37 kV .

The power is then
2

1 V0
P
.
2 Z0
This gives us

P 1.25 107 W 12.5 MW .

Problem 3
A WR90 rectangular waveguide operating in the TE10 mode has dimensions a = 2.29 cm,
b = 1.02 cm. An air-filled section of the waveguide meets a Teflon-filled section as
shown below. The Teflon has a relative permittivity of r = 2.2 . The loss tangent of the
Teflon may be ignored in this problem.
A dielectric plug with a relative permittivity of rp is inserted one-half of a guidedwavelength in the air region ( g 0 ) away from the boundary between the air-filled
waveguide and the Teflon-filled waveguide, as shown below. The length of the dielectric
plug Lp is one-fourth of a guided wavelength in the plug region. The plug acts as a
quarter-wave transformer to allow for a perfect match to be seen by the air-filled
waveguide to the left, carrying the incident wave.
Determine the necessary relative permittivity rp and length Lp of the plug (in cm),
assuming operation at 10 GHz.

Plug

rp
Incident wave

Lp

Teflon

g 0 / 2

Top view

10

r 2.2

Room for additional work

The dielectric plug is one fourth of a guided wavelength long. It acts as a quarter-wave
transformer, and hence
Z0plug Z0air Z0teflon .

For the TE10 mode we have

Z0

0
kz

k2
a

Hence we have

0
k

2
plug

k
a
2
0

2
2
teflon

or

2
k plug
k02
a
a
2

2
kteflon

a

or
2
2
2

2

2
k plug
k02 kteflon
.
a
a
a

Hence we have

2 plug
0 r

2
2
2
2 2

k0 k0 r
a
a
a

or
11

plug
r

2
2
2

1
r
.
k0 a
k0 a k0 a

At 10 GHz we have

k0 a 4.7995 .
This gives us the result

rplug 1.4402 .
The length of the plug is then
1 2
Lp plug
4 kz

2
k

2
plug

1
4

2
k0

plug
r

k0 a

or
Lp

0
4

k0 a

rplug

The result is

Lp 0.998 cm .

12