PASSIVE AND ACTIVE MICROWAVE
DEVICES
Microwave Passive components: Directional
Coupler, Power Divider, Magic Tee,
attenuator, resonator
Principles of Microwave Semiconductor
Devices: Gunn Diodes, IMPATT diodes,
Schottky Barrier diodes, PIN diodes
Microwave tubes: Klystron, TWT, Magnetron
BASIS ACTIVE COMPONENTS PASSIVE COMPONENT
Nature of source Active components Passive elements utilizes
deliver power or energy power or energy in the
to the circuit. circuit.
Examples Diodes, Transistors, SCR, Resistor, Capacitor,
Integrated circuits etc. Inductor etc.
Function of the Devices which produce Devices which stores
component energy in the form of energy in the form of
voltage or current. voltage or current.
Power Gain They are capable of They are incapable of
providing power gain. providing power gain.
Flow of current Active components can Passive components
control the flow of cannot control the flow of
current. the current.
Requirement of external They do not require an They require any
source external source for the external source for the
operations. operations.
Nature of energy Active components are Passive components are
energy donor. energy acceptor.
MICROWAVE PASSIVE COMPONENTS
POWER DIVIDERS AND DIRECTIONAL COUPLERS
They are passive microwave components used for power
division or power combining.
In power division, an input signal is divided into two (or
more) output signals of lesser power, while a power
combiner accepts two or more input signals and combines
them at an output port.
The coupler or divider may have three ports, four ports, or
more, and may be (ideally) lossless.
Three-port networks take the form of T-junctions and
other power dividers, while four-port networks take the
form of directional couplers and hybrids.
Microwave Hybrid Circuits
Microwave circuits consists of several microwave devices connected in some way
to achieve the desired transmission of a microwave signal
The interconnection of two or more microwave devices may be regarded as a
microwave junction.
Waveguide Tees as the E-plane tee, H-plane tee, Magic tee, hybrid ring tee(rat-race
circuit), Hybrid Rings, Corners ,Bends, Twists, directional coupler and the
circulator
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Structure of wave guide junctions
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TEE JUNCTION
A waveguide or coaxial-line junction with three independent ports
Matrix of third order, containing nine elements, six of which should
be independent.
The characteristics of a three port junction can be explained by
three theorems of the tee junction.
These theorems are derived from the equivalent-circuit
representation of the tee junction
1.A short circuit may always be placed in one of the arms of a three-port junction in
such a way that no power can be transferred through the other two arms.
[Link] the junction is symmetric about one of its arms, a short circuit can always be
placed in that arm so that no reflections occur in power transmission between the
other two arms. (i.e the arms present matched impedances.)
[Link] is impossible for a general three-port junction of arbitrary symmetry to present
matched impedances at all three arms.
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E PLANE TEE
An E-Plane Tee junction is formed by attaching a
simple waveguide to the broader dimension of a
rectangular waveguide, which already has two
ports.
The arms of rectangular waveguides make two
ports called collinear ports i.e., Port1 and Port2,
while the new one, Port3 is called as Side arm or E-
arm. T his E-plane Tee is also called as Series Tee.
As the axis of the side arm is parallel to the
electric field, this junction is called E-Plane Tee
junction. This is also called as Voltage or Series
junction. The ports 1 and 2 are 180° out of phase
with each other.
S112 + S122 + S132 = 1 --------- Equation 6
E-plane Tee
Series Tee
A waveguide tee in which the axis of its side arm is
parallel to the E-field of the main guide.
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E-plane Tee
If the collinear arms are symmetric about the side arm, there are two
different transmission characteristics
Two way
Transmission of
E-plane tee
a)i/p-main arm
b)i/p-side arm
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E-plane Tee
If E-plane tee is perfectly matched with the aid
of screw tuners or inductive or capacitive
windows at the junction, the diagonal
components of the S-matrix, S11, S22 and S33
are zero because there will be no reflection.
When the waves are fed into the side arm
(port 3), the waves appearing at port1 and
port2 of the collinear arm will be in the opposite
phase and in the same magnitude. Therefore,
S13 = -S23 (both have opposite signs)
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S-MATRIX OF E-PLANE TEE
For a matched junction, the S matrix is given by
Symmetry property
S12 = S21, S13 = S31 and S23 = S32
Zero property,
The sum of (each term of any column (row) multiplied by the
complex conjugate of the corresponding terms of any
column(row) is zero. )
S11S12* + S21S22* + S31S32* = 0
Hence,
S13S23* = 0 15
S-MATRIX OF E-PLANE TEE
When an E-plane is constructed of an empty waveguide, it is poorly matched at the
tee junction.
Hence
However since the collinear arm is usually symmetric about the side arm,
Thus,
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H-Plane Tee
Shunt tee: A waveguide tee in which the axis of its side
arm is “shunting” the E-field or parallel to the H-field of
the main guide.
If two input waves are fed into port 1 and port 2 of the
collinear arm, the output wave at port 3 will be in phase
and additive.
If the input is fed into port 3, the wave will split equally
into port 1 and port 2 in phase and in the same magnitude.
Therefore the S matrix of H-plane tee is similar to E-plane
tee except
S13 = S23 17
H PLANE TEE
It is formed by attaching a simple waveguide
to a rectangular waveguide which already has
two ports.
The arms of rectangular waveguides make
two ports called collinear ports i.e., Port1 and
Port2, while the new one, Port3 is called as
Side arm or H-arm. This H-plane Tee is also
called as Shunt Tee.
As the axis of the side arm is parallel to the
magnetic field, this junction is called H-Plane
Tee junction. This is also called as Current
junction, as the magnetic field divides itself
into arms.
S MATRIX – H PLANE TEE
Magic Tees (Hybrid Tees)
It is a Combination of E-plane tee and H-plane tee.
1. If two waves of equal magnitude and the same phase are
fed into port 1 and port 2, the output will be zero at port
3 and additive at port 4
2. If a wave is fed into port 4 (H arm), it will be divided
equally between port 1 and port 2 of the collinear arms
and will not appear at port 3 (E arm).
3. If a wave is fed into port 3 (E arm), it will produce an
output of equal magnitude and opposite phase at port 1S matrix of magic tee is
and port 2. Output at port 4 is zero i.e S43 = S34 = 0.
4. If a wave is fed into one of the collinear arms at port 1 or
port 2, it will not appear in the other collinear arm at
port 2 or port 1 because the E arm causes a phase delay
while the H arm causes the phase advance. i.e S12 = S21
= 0.
Application of Magic tee
Mixing
Duplexing
Impedance measurements.
Radar transmitters
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Magic tee coupled the transmitter to antenna
Hybrid Rings (Rat-Race Circuits)
Annular line of proper electrical length to sustain standing waves, to which
four arms are connected at proper intervals by means of series or parallel
junctions. Characteristics similar to hybrid tee.
When a wave is fed into port 1, it will not
appear at port 3 because the difference of
phase shifts for the waves travelling in the
clockwise and anticlockwise directions is 180.
Thus the waves are cancelled at port 3.
Similarly the waves fed into port 2 will not
emerge at port 4 and so on.
S matrix for an ideal hybrid ring
Hybrid ring with series junctions
Phase cancellation occurs only at designated frequency for an ideal hybrid
ring.
In actual hybrid rings there are small leakage couplings, and hence the
zero elements in the matrix above are not quite equal to zero. 24
MAGIC TEE
PROPERTIES OF MAGIC TEE
• If a signal of equal phase and magnitude is sent to port 1 and port 2, then
the output at port 4 is zero and the output at port 3 will be the additive of
both the ports 1 and 2.
• If a signal is sent to port 4, E−arm then the power is divided between port 1
and 2 equally but in opposite phase, while there would be no output at port
3. Hence, S34 = 0.
• If a signal is fed at port 3, then the power is divided between port 1 and 2
equally, while there would be no output at port 4. Hence, S43 = 0.
• If a signal is fed at one of the collinear ports, then there appears no output
at the other collinear port, as the E-arm produces a phase delay and the H-
arm produces a phase advance. So, S12 = S21 = 0.
S MATRIX FOR MAGIC TEE
It is a 4×4 matrix as there are 4 possible inputs and 4 possible outputs.
S MATRIX – Cont….
Applications of E-H Plane Tee
• E-H Plane junction is used to measure the impedance − A null
detector is connected to E-Arm port while the Microwave
source is connected to H-Arm port. The collinear ports
together with these ports make a bridge and the impedance
measurement is done by balancing the bridge.
• E-H Plane Tee is used as a duplexer − A duplexer is a circuit
which works as both the transmitter and the receiver, using a
single antenna for both purposes. Port 1 and 2 are used as
receiver and transmitter where they are isolated and hence
will not interfere. Antenna is connected to E-Arm port. A
matched load is connected to H-Arm port, which provides no
reflections. Now, there exists transmission or reception
without any problem.
Applications of E-H Plane Tee
• E-H Plane Tee is used as a mixer − E-Arm port is
connected with antenna and the H-Arm port is
connected with local oscillator. Port 2 has a
matched load which has no reflections and port 1
has the mixer circuit, which gets half of the signal
power and half of the oscillator power to produce IF
frequency.