1. Enhancement of the peak power handling capability in microstrip filters by employing smooth-profiled conductor strips
- Author
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Ahmad, Jamil, Hussain, Jabir, Arregui Padilla, Iván, Martin-Iglesias, Petronilo, Arnedo Gil, Israel, Gómez Laso, Miguel Ángel, Lopetegui Beregaña, José María, Universidad Pública de Navarra. Departamento de Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y de Comunicación, Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa. Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa, Elektronikoa eta Telekomunikazio Ingeniaritza Saila, and Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa. Institute of Smart Cities - ISC
- Subjects
Microstrip filters ,Smooth-profiled conductor strips ,Peak power handling capability (PPHC) - Abstract
This paper presents a design methodology that significantly increases the peak power handling capability (PPHC) of microstrip filters. The PPHC is limited in microstrip technology by the corona effect: a physical phenomenon caused by the ionization of the air under the presence of strong electric fields around the planar circuit. Microstrip filters with a low electric field strength in the air increases the corona threshold level, resulting in high PPHC. Conventional stepped impedance (SI) filters, which consist of cascaded step-shaped elements, exhibit sharp discontinuities. These geometric edges amplify the electric field strength in the air, consequently reducing the corona threshold. Our research group has recently reported a new synthesis technique that introduces a smooth-profile (SP) conductor strip. This SP strip eliminates any sharp discontinuities and significantly reduces the strength of the electric field. This paper focuses on the examination of the high power performance of 7th-order SP and SI low-pass filters. The cut-off frequency (fc) for both types of filters is set at 447.45 MHz, while the frequency for maximum stop-band rejection (fo) is 1 GHz. The findings indicate that the SP filter shows a notable enhancement in peak power handling capability (PPHC), with gains of 2.48 dB and 4.80 dB observed at critical pressure and ambient pressure, respectively. This work was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación — Agencia Estatal de Investigación (MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033) under Project PID2020-112545RB-C53. Jamil Ahmad also acknowledges the funding received through the PRE2018-085491 grant.
- Published
- 2023