STUDY OF MICROWAVE COMPONENTS

Study of passive microwave components- Waveguides, Isolator, Variable and Fixed

attenuator, Slotted waveguide section, twist, bend, E plane H plane and Magic Tee,
Horn Antennas, Directional Coupler.

Waveguide

In electromagnetic and communications engineering, the term waveguide may refer to

any linear structure that conveys electromagnetic waves between its endpoints.
However, the original and most common meaning is a hollow metal pipe used to carry
radio waves. This type of waveguide is used as a transmission line mostly at microwave
frequencies, for connecting microwave transmitters and receivers to their antennas, in
equipment such as microwave ovens, radar sets, satellite communications and
microwave radio links.

A dielectric waveguide employs a solid dielectric rod rather than a hollow pipe. An
optical fibre is a dielectric guide designed to work at optical frequencies. Transmission
lines such as microstrip, coplanar waveguide, stripline or coaxial may also be
considered to be waveguides.

The electromagnetic waves in (metal-pipe) waveguide may be imagines as travelling

down the guide in a zigzag path, being repeatedly reflected between opposite walls of
the guide. For the particular case of rectangular wave guide, it is possible to base an
exact analysis on this view. Propagation in dielectric waveguide may be viewed in the
same way, with the waves confined to the dielectric by total internal reflection at its
surface. Some structures, such as Non-radiative dielectric waveguide and the Goubau
line, use both metal walls and dielectric surfaces to confine the wave.

Isolator

An isolator is a two-port device that transmits microwave or radio frequency power in

one direction only. It is used to shield equipment on its input side, from the effects of
conditions on its output side: for example to prevent a microwave source being detuned
by a mismatched load.

Attenuator

An attenuator is an electronic device that reduces the amplitude or power of a signal

without appreciable distorting its waveform. An attenuator is effectively the opposite of
an amplifier, though the two work by different methods. While an amplifier provides gain,
an attenuator provides loss, or gain less than 1.
Attenuators are usually passive devices made from simple voltage divider networks.
Switching between different resistances forms adjustable stepped attenuators and
continuously adjustable ones using potentiometers. For higher frequencies precisely
matched low VSWR resistance networks are used.

Fixed attenuators in circuits are used to lower voltage, dissipate power, and to improve
impedance matching. In measuring signals, attenuator pads or adaptor pad or adaptors
are used to lower the amplitude of the signal a known amount to enable measurements,
or to protect the measuring device from signal levels that might damage it. Attenuators
are also used to ‘match’ impedances by lowering apparent SWR.

Slotted waveguide section

A slotted waveguide has no reflector but emits directly through the slots. The spacing of
the slots is critical and is a multiple of the wavelength used for transmission and
reception. The effect of this geometry is to form a high gain antenna that is highly
directional in the plane of the antenna. Without augmentation, a slotted waveguide is
not as efficient as a parabolic reflector, lacking an ability to focus in the vertical plane,
but is much more durable and is less expensive to construct. The antenna’s vertical
focus is usually enhanced by the application of a microwave lens attached to the front of
the antenna. Just as the companion slotted waveguide, is a one dimensional device, it
too may be made relatively cheaply as compared to a parabolic reflector and feed horn.

Magic Tee

A magic Tee (or magic T or hybrid tee) is a hybrid or 3 dB coupler used in microwave
systems. It is an alternative to the rat-race coupler. In contrast to the rate race, the
three-dimensional structure of the magic tee makes it less readily constructed in planar
technologies such as microstrip or stripline.

Study of microwave sources using reflex Klystron

In the reflex Klystron (also known as a ‘Sutton’ klystron, after its inventor), the electron
beam passes through a single resonant cavity. The electrons are fired into one end of
the tube by an electron gun. After passing through the resonant cavity they are reflected
by a negatively charged reflector electrode for another pass through the cavity, where
they are then collected. The electron beam is velocity modulated when it first passes
through the cavity. The formation of electron bunches takes place in the drift space
between the reflector and the cavity. The voltage of the reflector must be adjusted so
that the bunching is at a maximum as the electron beam re-enters the resonant cavity,
thus ensuring a maximum of energy is transferred from the electron beam to the RF
oscillations in the cavity. The voltage should always be switched on before providing the
input to the reflex klystron as the whole function of the reflex klystron would be
destroyed if the supply is provided after the input. The reflector voltage may be varied
slightly from the optimum value, which results in some loss of output power, but also in
a variation in frequency. This effect is used to good advantage for automatic frequency
control in receivers, and in frequency modulation for transmitters. The level of
modulation applied for transmission is small enough the the power output essentially
remains constant. At regions far from the optimum voltage, no oscillations are obtained
at all. This tube is called a reflex klystron because it repels the input supply or performs
the opposite function of a klystron.

Reflex Klystron
Power Supply Tunable Probe with VSWR Meter
Detector Mount

Frequency Meter
Ammeter
Reflex Klystron

Slotted Waveguide
Isolator section
Matched Load with
Detector

Variable Attenuator

[ BLOCK DIAGRAM]

Study of microwave sources using Gunn Oscillator

A Gunn diode, also known as a transferred electron device (TED), is a form of diode
high frequency electronics. It is somewhat unusual in that it consists only of N-doped
semiconductor material, whereas most diodes consist of both P and N-doped regions.
In the Gunn diode, three regions exist: two of them are heavily N-doped on each
terminal, with a thin layer of lightly doped material in between. When a voltage is
applied to the device, the electrical gradient will be largest across the thin middle layer.
Conduction will take place as in any conductive material with current being proportional
to the applied voltage. Eventually, at higher field values, the conductive properties of the
middle layer will be altered, increasing its resistivity and reducing the gradient across it,
preventing further conduction and current actually starts to fall down. In practice, this
means a Gunn diode has a region of negative differential resistance.

The Gunn diode is based on the Gunn effect, and both are named for the physicist J.B.
Gunn who, at IBM in 1962, discovered the effect because he refused to accept
inconsistent experimental results in Gallium arsenide as “noise”.

[BOCK DIAGRAM]