SLOTLINES

VARIANTS OF SLOTLINE
 Coupled Microstrip Slotline
 The cross section of a coupled microstrip-slotline is shown in Figure 5.15. It consists of a slot in the ground plane of a
microstrip line

Figure 5.15 Cross section of a coupled microstrip-slotline, and the electric field
distributions for (a) even mode and (b) odd mode
  A coupled microstrip-slotline has been analyzed by a number of investigators [25–30].
 The method of analysis used most frequently is Galerkin’s method in the spectral domain.
 It was observed that two types of modes propagate in this transmission line: quasi-microstrip mode and the quasi-slotline
mode.
 The electric field distribution for these modes is shown in Figure 5.15.
 The mode in Figure 5.15(a) has the field disttibution similar to that of a microstrip line. Since it has even symmetry, it is
also called the even mode.
 Similarly, the mode in Figure 5.15(b) is called the odd mode, and the field distribution is similar to that in a slotline.

Figure 5.16 Effective dielectric constant of coupled mierostrip-slotline (er Figure 5.17 Characteristic impedance of coupled microstrip-slotline (er =
=9.6): (a) even mode (... Itoh’s result [25]) and (b) odd mode (... Cohn’s 9.6): (a) even mode (... Itoh’s result [25]) and (b) odd mode
result [1] (from [30]
 Figures 5.16 and 5.17 show the effective dielectric constants and the characteristic impedances of these modes.
 It is observed from these figures that for the even mode, the effective dielectric constant decreases and the characteristic
impedance increases with increasing slot width.
 This is because the effect of free space below the slot becomes more pronounced .
 This mode can be used to realize very high impedances, in the order of 200 Ω to 300 Ω. Quite the opposite is true of the
behavior of the odd mode or the slot mode with respect to the increase in strip width.
 This mode is less sensitive to the presence of the strip. It may be due to the fact that most of the energy in this mode is
confined near the slot.
 A variation of coupled microstrip-slotline is used in the design of double substrate directional couplers .
 In this configuration, the slotline is sandwiched between two microstrips by placing another microstrip on the slotline side
of the coupled microstrip-slotline.
 Conductor-Backed Slotline
 Advantages are envisaged are improved mechanical strength, easier implementation of microstrip-slotline circuits, help in
grounding floating regions, convenience in dc biasing, and heat sink.

Figure 5.18 Cross section of a conductor-backed slotline.

Figure 5.19 Sketch of the measurement set-up, and a plot of the leaky wave field
across the width of a slotline (h =5 mm, f = 10 GHz, er =2.25)
Figure 5.20 Phase constant (b/k0) and attenuation constant (a/k0) of a conductor-
backed slotline as a function of slot width for er = 2.55. h/l0 = 0.267, f = 10 GHz
 The loss of power can be explained by a leaky mode characterized by the complex propagation constant g = b + ja, the imaginary
part a accounting for the power loss.
 Far away from the slot, the conductor-backed slotline resembles a conventional dielectric filled parallel plate waveguide formed by
the electric conductors on both sides of the substrate.
 In the structure under study, the propagation constant b/k0 for the slot mode lies between εr and 1.
 The TEM mode for the parallel plate waveguide has the propagation constant bTEM/k0 = εr. Since bTEM > b, leakage occurs
independent of frequency or parallel plate separation.
 Shigesawa et al.have carried out the analysis of a conductor-backed slotline using two different approaches: a mode-matching
technique and the transverse equivalent network approach.
 Das and Pozar used the fullwave spectral domain moment method. Measurements were also carried out to determine the leaky
wave aspect of the leakage phenomenon. For this purpose, the electric field distribution was probed across the width of slotline at a
distance far away from the point of excitation.
 A sketch of the measurement set-up and a plot of the leaky wave field across the width of the slotline are shown in Figure 5.19.
 It was observed that the maximum of the electric field occurred at an angle q from the slot axis given by cos–1(b/(k0 εr). Das and
Pozar have compared the theoretical values of b/k0 and a/k0 with the computed and measured values in [32]. This is plotted in
Figure 5.20.
 It is observed that the agreement is very good for wider slots between the measured values of [32] and theoretical calculations in
[19].
 Also, the attenuation constant is fairly high for the narrow slots. The effect of finite plate widths of the slotline and the conductor
backing is also discussed by the authors [32]. In this case the propagation constant is found to be purely real.

 •The leaky slotline mode is one of the unwanted features of a conductor backed slotline.
• Another aspect of this transmission line becomes important when either the top plates or bottom plate of the
structure is finite in the lateral direction but the substrate is thick enough electrically to support a surface wave also.
• At higher frequencies the value of b for the slotline mode can become lower than the value of b for the surface
wave. When this happens the power from the slotline mode will couple to the surface wave, and b for the slotline mode
will become complex.
•Surface wave propagation could produce unexpected cross talk with neighboring circuits. Shigesawa et al. [32] have
calculated the crossover frequency between the slotline mode and the TM 0 surface wave mode.

•In addition to the discrete modes, a slotline also supports a continuum of radiation modes due to its open nature.
These modes can get excited at a discontinuity and are utilized to develop slot antennas. Rozzi et al. [33] have studied
these modes for a conductor-backed slotline.
 Conductor-Backed Slotline with Superstrate
 This modification of the conductor-backed slotline has been suggested by Das [34] to eliminate leakage.
 The cross section of the conductor-backed slotline with a superstrate is shown in the inset of Figure 5.21. Here, the
superstrate parameters are described by the thickness d and the relative dielectric constant er2. The substrate parameters are
the thickness h and the relative dielectric constant er1.
 Leakage occurs because the propagation constant of the slotline mode is lower than the propagation constant of the parallel
plate TEM mode.
 The propagation constant b of the slotline mode can be increased by loading the conductor-backed slotline by means of a
superstrate.
 The loading is increased to an extent such that b > bTEM(= k0 εr).
 Loading by the superstrate increases with the increases in its dielectric thickness d and relative dielectric constant er2,
thickness h of the substrate, and frequency.
 This is shown in Figure 5.21 for the effective dielectric constant ere. The increase in ere is almost linear with d when d is
greater than a certain minimum value.
 The effect of superstrate on the characteristic impedance Z0s has also been determined by Das [34]. It is plotted in Figure
5.22. This figure shows that for a given set of parameters there is a minimum value of superstrate thickness d below which
Z0s decreases sharply to small values.
 This low value of Z0s is interpreted as indicative of onset of leakage, that is, transition from the bound mode to unbound
(leaky) mode.
 The evaluation of the field distribution as a function of d confirms the corresponding field spreading about the slot.
 Using such studies on field spreading and/or impedance variation, a suitable set of parameters for a conductor-backed
slotline can be chosen so that leakage effects are avoided.
 For example, for the parameters of curve 1 of Figure 5.22, the value of d should be greater than 0.5 mm.

Figure 5.21 Effective dielectric constant of conductor-backed slotline with superstrate with
W= 1 mm (1 : h =0.157 cm, f = 10 GHz; 2: h = 0.076 cm, f = 10 GHz; 3: h = 0.157 cm, f = 3
GHz; 4 : h =0.076 cm, f = 3 GHz)
 Slotlines with Double-Layered Dielectric
 Slotlines on two layers of dielectric and sandwich slot configuration have been studied to introduce flexibility in design [52,
56–58].
 The cross-section of these slotlines is shown in Figure 5.23. The sandwich slotline,
 Figure 5.23(a), confines the fields better in the dielectric layers compared to the single-layer slotline. Therefore, it has a
shorter guide wavelength.
 The double-layered slotline, Figure 5.23(b), may be employed to realize higher values of characteristic impedance
compared to single-layer slotlines [58].
 The double-layered slotlines have been analyzed using Cohn’s transverse resonance method [56, 58] and analysis in
spectral domain [57].
 The transverse resonance method is formulated for the slotline in an enclosure, and the results for open configuration are
retrieved when the enclosure dimensions approach infinity.
 This technique can be extended to any number of dielectric layers around the slot. Numerical results for the guide
wavelength and characteristic impedance of these slotlines are available as a function of frequency [58]. Empirical
expressions for these characteristics are derived in [59].
Figure 5.22 Characteristic impedance Z0s for the geometries of Figure 5.21.

A h1 A W h1
i i
rε r1 W d1 r ε r1 d1

ε r2 d2 ε r2 d2

A h2 A h2
i i
r r
L L

Figure 5.23 Cross-section of double-layered slotline configurations. (a) sandwich slotline

and (b) double-layered slotline.
 SLOTLINE TRANSITIONS
 To test and design slotline circuits it is necessary to have a transition between a slotline and the measuring equipment.
 A coaxial-to-slotline transition is commonly used for this purpose.
 Transitions between slotline and other transmission lines are also useful and increase the applications of slotlines.

 Coaxial-to-Slotline Transition
 A commonly used coaxial line-to-slotline transition is shown in Figure 5.24(a).
 It consists of a miniature coaxial line placed perpendicular to and at the end of an open-circuited slotline. The outer
conductor of the cable is electrically connected (with solder or epoxy) to the metallization in the left half of the slot plane.
 The inner conductor is extended over the slot and connected to the metallization on the opposite side of the slot. This
transition has been analyzed in [35] by assuming that the inner conductor of the coaxial line has a semicircular shape over
the slot as shown in Figure 5.24(b).
Figure 5.24 A coaxial-to-slotline transition and its analysis model.

Figure 5.25 Equivalent circuit of the transition shown in Figure 5.24.

 An equivalent circuit suggested in [35] for the coax-slot transition of Figure 5.24 is shown in Figure 5.25.
 The impedances Z0s and Zd are the characteristic impedances of the slotline and coaxial line, respectively.
 The fringe capacitance at the open end of the slot is represented by the lumped capacitor C. The inductance
presents the self-inductance of the semicircular loop.
 The transformation ratio can be evaluated approximately by using (5.6), which gives the ratio of the voltage
distance r to the voltage across the slot. We have n = π2 kcrH1(1) (kcr)

Figure 5.26 Comparison of theoretical and experimental VSWR for coaxial-to-slotline transition
  A comparison between experimental VSWR for a coaxial-to-slotline transition and the values based on
the above model is shown in Figure 5.26.
 This transition has been constructed with a 50-Ω 3.58-mm semirigid coaxial cable that is coupled to a
slotline etched from a 3.175-mm-thick substrate with er = 20. The slot impedance is about 75 Ω (W/h =
0.55). The measured value of L is found to be 0.61 nH, and the capacitance C has a typical value of 0.2
pF. It is seen that the experimental curve is in reasonable agreement with the theoretical curve for C = 0
pF.
 Also, to achieve this agreement, the value of r used is 2.54 mm, which is about 50 percent greater than
the actual height of the inner conductor of the coaxial line above the slot. There are two possible reasons
for the lack of any better agreement between the model and the actual performance.
 First, the inner conductor of the coaxial line does not form a loop of exactly semicircular shape. Second,
the Hankel function approximation does not describe accurately the variations of the electric field near
the slot [2].
 The transition described above has been successfully used in the S-band as it presents a good VSWR (less than
1.15) in the frequency range of 1.65 GHz to 4.0 GHz. A lower VSWR value over a narrow frequency range
can be obtained by using a movable short as shown in Figure 5.27.
 This transition is very useful for feeding and testing slotline circuits.
Figure 5.27 Coaxial-to-slotline transition with a movable short.
• Microstrip-to-Slotline Cross-Junction Transition

Figure 5.28 (a) Microstrip-to-slotline transition; (b) transmission line

equivalent circuit for the transition of (a); (c) reduced equivalent circuit of
(b); and (d) transformed equivalent circuit of (c).
•  The slotline, which is etched on one side of the substrate, is crossed at a right angle by a microstrip conductor on the
opposite side. The microstrip extends about one quarter of a wavelength beyond the slot.
• The transition can be fabricated using the usual photoetching process and is thus easily reproducible. Also, as the
microstrip part of the circuit can be placed on one side of the substrate and the slotline part on the other side, this
transition makes two-level circuit design possible. Coupling between the slotline and microstrip line occurs by means of
the magnetic field .
• A transmission line equivalent circuit of the transition (Figure 5.28(a)) proposed by Chambers et al. [36] is shown in
Figure 5.28(b).
• The reactance X0s represents the inductance of a shorted slotline (see Section 5.4.1), and C0c is the capacitance of an
open microstrip. Z0s and Z0m are slotline and microstrip characteristic impedances respectively.

• qs and qm represent the electrical lengths (quarter-wave at the center frequency) of the extended portions of the slotline
and the microstrip, respectively, measured from the reference planes as shown in Figure 5.28(a).
• The transformer turns ratio n describes the magnitude of the coupling between the microstrip and slotline.
• For further analysis the equivalent circuit in Figure 5.28(b) may be redrawn as in Figure 5.28(c). Here,

jXs = Z0s jX0s + jZ0s tanθs (5.57)

Z0s - X0s tanθs