The design and characterization of a broadband 20–480 GHz continuously tuneable on-chip spectrometer based on non-linear transmission lines in 65-nm CMOS technology is presented. The design procedure of the sampler that detects the ultra-broadband signal from the transmitter in time and frequency domain is described in detail. It consists of a non-linear transmission line, a passive pulse differentiator and a high-speed sample and hold-circuit. The relevance of the layout of the Schottky diodes in the sampler with a maximum RC-cutoff frequency of 430 GHz is described. Time domain and frequency domain measurements are presented to characterize the 480 GHz sampler bandwidth as well as the 3.1 ps sampler rise time. A signal to noise ratio of 90 dB at 100 GHz, 70 dB at 200 GHz and more than 30 dB at 480 GHz is reached. Two implementation of the spectrometer with antennas are presented, one with an on-chip antenna and one in a hybrid package. The antenna-less on-chip implementation of the transmitter and sampler requires no external lenses and is miniaturized to an area of 3 mm2. Future applications include analysis of fluids in microfluidic packages or droplet analysis in bio-medical or pharmaceutical applications.

Dielectric stepped-index flat lens antennas for operation at 12 GHz are presented. A brick-shaped dielectric with a permittivity profile optimized for focusing is sandwiched between the metallic plates of an open-ended parallel-plate waveguide. A tapered slot antenna is placed at the focal point of the dielectric lens, thereby creating antennas with high directivity of 16.8 and 15.8 dBi, respectively. In the two versions of the antenna, the parallel-plate waveguide operates in TEM-mode and in the first higher-order TE-mode, respectively. The dielectric profile is realized by appropriate mixtures of alumina ceramic powder and microscopic hollow glass spheres, realizing permittivity ranging from εrel = 1.31 to εrel = 3.24. The design of the complete antennas is based on geometrical optics followed by optimizations with a full-wave electromagnetic solver. Measurements show good agreement with simulations.

We review the main results of the development of whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonators and their unique applications due to their quasi-optical functionality. Several types of advanced WGM resonators are proposed by the authors. The theoretical results are described for the resonators with an analytical solution of the electromagnetic problems. Special emphasis is given to the interaction of moving charged particles and waves of cylindrical resonators. Important aspects are described concerning the developed sapphire resonators, for which an exact solution can only be found by using specially designed computer program products. A separate section of the paper is devoted to application aspects of the WGM resonators. In particular, it describes advanced solutions for overcoming the problems of measuring the small microwave (MW) surface impedance of unconventional superconductors in the form of large-area thin films and small samples under study. In addition, a demonstration of accurate complex permittivity measurements of small volumes of lossy liquids is provided. Special emphasis is given to highly stable MW signal sources, namely Ka-band transistor-based feedback oscillator and solid-state maser WGM oscillators. Recently obtained results are presented of experimental studies of the auto-oscillatory system developed on the basis of the WGM resonator with relativistic electron beam.

This paper proposes a novel T-shape electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) structure to suppress simultaneous switching noise (SSN) in mixed-signal systems. Noise is generated due to simultaneous switching multiple drivers in the digital ICs. It is called as SSN. It could propagate between power and ground planes of underlying PCB platform and interfere with the functionality of nearby RF/Analog ICs. So, the RF modules are isolated from the digital module for proper functioning of entire mixed-signal system. A high-impedance surface, called T-shape EBG has been implemented between digital and RF modules. It will exhibit the characteristics of bandgap for a wide frequency range to suppress the propagation of switching noise. A single unit-cell of T-EBG is periodically patterned over one side of the PCB and the other side is kept continuous. In this paper different characteristics of T-EBG have been simulated and verified with the measurement results. A 3 × 3 T-EBG layout provides an isolation of −40 dB from 0.72 to 6.39 GHz. A scaled version of T-EBG is used to shift the bandgap towards higher frequency range from 2.22 to 7.19 GHz. Also, a novel layout methodology has been proposed to broaden the bandgap from 2.02 to 18.84 GHz without reducing the thickness of dielectric substrate.

An accurate characterization of microwave materials is essential for reliable high-frequency circuit design. This paper presents a measurement setup, which enables a quick and accurate determination of the relative permittivity of dielectric bulk materials up to 110 GHz. A ring-resonator is manufactured on a well-characterized substrate, serving as reference resonator. The material under test (MUT) is placed on top of the ring, which increases the effective permittivity and therefore introduces a shift of the resonance frequency of the resonator. In case of moderate to large dielectric losses of the MUTs, the quality factor of the resonator decreases perceptibly, which provides conclusions about the dielectric losses. Electromagnetic field simulations with different heights and relative permittivities of the MUTs provide a look-up table for the measured resonance frequencies. The functionality of the proposed measurement setup is validated by measurement results of different MUTs.

Two compact resonant near-field sensors are introduced for the characterization of aqueous solutions at 5 GHz. They are based on folded substrate-integrate circular half-mode resonators with a planar sensing tip. Owing to the planar design, the sensor is simple and cheap to manufacture, and a sample can be easily coupled to the resonator from the top. The operating principle of the sensor is explained and verified by both simulation and measurement. The radiation of the sensors is quantified by means of a quality factor analysis. Finally, a previously introduced calibration method based on the perturbation theory is applied to the sensors and its accuracy is improved by choosing more suitable reference materials.

In this paper, we present a non-resonant high impedance reflectometer with a reference impedance close to one of the tip probe of a near-field microwave microscope. We show that for an apex of the tip probe of 100 µm there is an optimum reference impedance close to 1 kΩ. To validate this approach a microwave circuit that makes use of lumped elements has been fabricated. A proof of concept is also explored for capacitance measurements between the tip probe and a metal plate.

Resonant substrate integrated near-field sensors are used for characterization of aqueous solutions at three different frequencies. In addition, Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells in a culture medium are characterized with the same sensors. Different concentrations as well as different vital states of cell suspensions are examined. The complex permittivity of the samples is evaluated using a linearized method based on perturbation theory. The permittivity differences between the measured cell suspensions are discussed. The resonant frequencies of the sensors are close to 3, 7, and 11 GHz, respectively.

A broadband permeability measurement method based on the full-wave electromagnetic (EM) analysis of a non-reciprocal transmission line is presented. The dispersion diagram for the first significant modes inside the ferrite loaded section of the line is obtained. The presence of magnetostatic modes generated by the magnetized ferrite inside the line is verified. Using a mode matching technique, the theoretical scattering parameters (S-parameters) of the transmission line are calculated. The full-wave analysis is validated with measurements of material properties in limit cases.