STRIP LINES

Microwave transmission lines

• Coaxial cables
• Waveguides
• Striplines
– Microstrip lines
– Parallel strip-lines
– Coplanar strip lines
– Shielded strip lines
 Microstrip lines

•Microwave solid-state device can be easily fabricated as a

semiconducting chip
•Very less volume of the order of 0.008-0.08mm3
•Mode of transmission-quasi TEM, hence the theory of
TEM-coupled lines is approximated.
 Deriving Zo of microstrip lines
Comparison method
Comparing with a wire over ground,
For a wire over ground,

Changes for microstrip lines,

The effective permittivity will be

Other relation will be t/w<0.8

[derived by Assadourian]
Typically, Zo is in between 50Ω to 150Ω

The velocity of propagation of microwaves in microstrips,

Propagation time constant is,

𝑇𝑑 = μ ϵ
=3.333 ϵ𝑟 𝑛𝑠/𝑚

LOSSES IN MICROSTRIP LINES

• Ohmic Losses
• Dielectric Losses
• Radiation Losses
 Power losses in Microstrips
• The power carried by a wave travelling in z direction is given by

• The attenuation constant α can be expressed as

• Power dissipation per unit length can be calculated as

• Hence,
Np/m

Np/m

Dielectric loss
from first unit,
σ μ
Attenuation constant, ∝= 2 ε

Phase constant,𝛽 = 𝜔 μϵ
Here,
σ μ
Dielectric attenuation constant, ∝𝑑=
2 ε

Substituting

We get, [Welch and pratt’s equation]

Modified equation by Pucel,

dB/m Where,

We usually express ∝ 𝑑 in dB/λg

Where,
 Ohmic loss

• Because of the resistance in path

• Mainly due to irregularities in conductors
• Current density mainly concentrated in a sheet with a thickness equal to skin depth
• Current distribution in a microstrip is as in diagram,

• Exact expressions for conducting attenuation constant

can not be determined.
• Assuming current distribution is uniform,

dB/m

Above relation holds good only if w/h<1

 Radiation losses
• Depends on substrate’s thickness, its dielectric constant and
its geometry.
• Some approximations:
– TEM transmission
– Uniform dielectric
– Neglecting TE field component
– Substrate thickness<<free space λ
• The ratio of radiated power to total dissipated power is

Where,
 Quality factor
• Quality factor of the striplines is very high, but limited by radiation losses
of the substrates.
• Qc is related to conductor attenuation constant by,

• Substituting, dB/λg
ℎ
• 𝑄𝑐 = 3.95𝑋10−6 𝑓
𝑅𝑠
• Substituting Rs and 𝜎 = 5.8𝑋107 mho/m for copper assuming stripline is in air,
𝑄𝑐 = 15.14ℎ 𝑓
• Similarly, Qd related to dielectric attenuation constant is given by,

approximating,
 Parallel strip lines
• Two perfectly parallel strips separated by a perfect dielectric
slab of uniform thickness.
• Considering w>>d,
some parameters are
 Attenuation losses
• The propagation constant of a parallel strip is,

The attenuation constant will be

• Coplanar striplines

• Shielded striplines
THANK YOU!