History and Evolution of

MICs, Materials of
Microstrip
Shashi Kumar D
Student Id: 1560081
Christ University

Outline

Microwave Frequency Bands

Properties of Microwaves
Historical Development of MICs
Advantages and Disadvantages of
Microwaves
Concept of Stripline and Microstrip
Microstrip substrate materials and
selection
IEEE Standards and Antenna

Microwave Frequency Bands

Microwave radio frequencies are
electromagnetic waves with wavelength
with the sizes ranging between 1mm
1m. The frequency utilized are in the
0.3GHz and 300GHz range.
Microwave ovens are basically
accelerated radio wave machines that
contain a concentrated radio frequency
inside a chamber.

Band
name

Abbre
viatio
n

band

Frequency and
Wavelength

Example uses

Extremel
y low
ELF
frequency

330 Hz
100,000 km 10,000
km

Communication with
submarines

Super low
SLF
frequency

30300 Hz
10,000 km 1000 km

Communication with
submarines

Ultra low
ULF
frequency

3003000 Hz
1000 km 100 km

Communication within
underground mines

Very low
VLF
frequency

330 kHz
100 km 10 km

Submarine
communication,
avalanche beacons,
wireless heart rate
monitors, and
geophysics

Low
LF
frequency

30300 kHz
10 km 1 km

Navigation, Time
signals, AM Radio

Medium
MF
frequency

3003000 kHz
1 km 100 m

AM Radio

330 MHz

Shortwave Radio and

aviation

High

HF

Band name

Very high
frequency

Ultra high
frequency

Super high
frequency

Extremely
high
frequency

Abbre
viatio
n

VHF

UHF

SHF

EHF

band

Frequency
and
Wavelength

Example uses

30300 MHz
10 m 1 m

FM Radio, TV broadcasts,
and aircraft
communications

3003000
MHz
1 m 100
mm

TV broadcasts, microwave
ovens, mobile phones,
wireless LAN, Bluetooth,
GPS, and Two-Way Radios

10

330 GHz
100 mm 10
mm

Radars, Mobile Phones,

and Commercial Wireless
LAN

11

30300 GHz
10 mm 1
mm

High-speed satellite
microwave transmission

Properties of Microwaves
Microwave radiation is of short
wavelength
Microwave current flows through
outer layer of conductor
Microwaves are easily attenuated
Microwaves are not reflected by
ionosphere
Can reflect by conducting surface like
optical waves.

Historical Development of MICs

MICROWAVE and millimetre-wave integrated
circuits have experienced a tremendous
growth over the last 50 years. Circuits have
become smaller, highly integrated, lower
cost, and have found extensive applications
in radar, electronic warfare, and the
commercial field.
We will divide the historical development of
MICs into two categories: microwave printed
circuits (MPCs) and hybrid MICs

Microwave printed circuits (MPCs)

The stripline is the basic building block for MPCs. The
work on stripline was first reported in 1951
The first stripline design manual A Handbook of Tri-plate
Microwave Components was available in 1956
The first book, entitled Stripline Circuit Design, was
published in 1974
The early work on stripline served as the seeds for the
successful growth of MPCs and the introduction of hybrid
MICs.
Over the past 30 years, MPC technology is steadily
improving in the areas of new materials, high-resolution
etching, milling circuit patterns, accurate modelling,
automatic manufacturing, and cost effectiveness

Hybrid MICs
Traditionally, in MICs, active and passive
discrete components such as transistors,
inductors, capacitors, and resistors are
attached externally to an etched circuit
on alumina (the most common microwave
ceramic) or some soft substrate
The evaluation of hybrid MICs began in
1955 when the Microstrip line was
introduced

Advantages of Microwaves
Large Bandwidth: The Bandwidth of Microwaves is larger than the common low
frequency radio waves. Thus more information can be transmitted using
Microwaves. It is very good advantage, because of this, Microwaves are used for
Point to Point Communications.
Better Directivity: At Microwave Frequencies, there are better directive
properties. This is due to the relation that As Frequency Increases, Wavelength
decreases and as Wavelength decreases Directivity Increases andBeam
widthdecreases. So it is easier to design and fabricate high gain antenna in
Microwaves.
Small Size Antenna: Microwaves allows to decrease the size of antenna. The
antenna size can be smaller as the size of antenna is inversely proportional to the
transmitted frequency. Thus in Microwaves, we have waves of much higher
frequencies and hence the higher the frequency, the smaller the size of antenna.
Low PowerConsumption: The power required to transmit a high frequency
signal is lesser than the power required in transmission of low frequency signals. As
Microwaves have high frequency thus requires very less power.
Effect Of Fading: The effect of fading is minimized by using Line Of Sight
propagation technique at Microwave Frequencies. While at low frequency signals,
the layers around the earth causes fading of the signal.

Disadvantages of microwaves
They require no obstacle is present in the
transmission path, Communication distance is
limited to Line of sight (LOS) range
The cost of implementing the communication
infrastructure is high
Microwaves are susceptible to rain, snow and
electromagnetic interference

Concept of Stripline and Microstrip

Stripline

Courtesy: http://www.bitweenie.com/listings/microstrip-vs-stripline/
Stripline transmission lines are fully contained within a substrate.
The stripline is sandwiched between two ground planes.

Concept of Stripline and Microstrip

Microstrip

Microstrip line is used to carry Electro-Magnetic Waves (EM waves) or

microwave frequency signals.
It consists of 3 layers, conducting strip, dielectric and Ground plane.
It is used to design and fabricate RF and microwave components such as
directional coupler, power divider/combiner, filter, antenna, MMIC etc.
The type of dielectric determine the characteristic impedance (typically
50 or 75).

Stripline Vs. Microstrip

Stripline
Greater
isolation of
transmission lines
Supports more
densely populated
designs (traces are
smaller, large number
of internal layers
possible)
Requires stricter
manufacturing
tolerances

Microstrip
Dielectric losses are
less (when using
identical materials)
Cheaper and easier to
manufacture
Location of traces on
top and bottom layers
leads to easier
debugging

Microstrip substrate materials and

selection
The dielectric constant of the substrate affects the size
of the microstrip antenna
With a higher dielectric constant, the substrate slows
the propagating wave through the substrate making
the wave slow. Because of this, radiating elements
can be smaller.
This means the elements are designed at a higher
frequency but because of the dielectric constant, the
antenna will be operating at a lower frequency.

Substrates are:
The most commonly used substrates are,

1) FR4 (Dielectric Constant = 4.4)

2) Honey comb(dielectric constant=1.07)
3)Duroid(dielectric constant=2.32)
4)Quartz(dielectric constant=3.8)
5)Alumina(dielectric constant=10)
A thicker substrate will increase the
radiation power , reduce conductor loss and
improve Band width.

IEEE Standards and Antenna

requirements