STRIPLINE

Mark Vincent Abadies

ECE 110
 STRIPLINE
-is a planar type transmission line which is well suited for
microwave integrated circuitry and photolithographic fabrication.

-it is a transverse electromagnetic (TEM) transmission line invented

by Robert M. Barret of the the Air Force Cambridge Research Centre
in 1950's.
Figure 1: Stripline
transmission line
(a) Geometry (b)
Electric and
magnetic field
lines.
Stripline
Circuit
Assembly
 The phase velocity is given by:

STRIPLINE vp 1 0 0 r
c r [3.1]

Thus, the propagation constant of the stripline is:

0 0 r
vp
[3.2]
r k0
The characteristic impedance of a transmission line is
given by:

L LC 1
Z0 [3.3]
C C v pC
L and C are the inductance and capacitance per unit length
of the line. The resulting formula for the characteristic
impedance is:

30 b
Z0 [3.4]
r We 0.441b
Where We is the effective width of the center conductor
given by:

W
We W 0 for 0.35
b
b 0.35 W b W
2
b for 0.35
b
[3.5]

These formulas assume a zero strip thickness, and are

quoted as being accurate to about 1 % of the exact
results.
 When designing stripline circuits, one usually needs to
know the strip width, W.
By given characteristic impedance (and height b and
permittivity r), the value of W can be found by the
inverse of the formulas in equation [3.4] and [3.5].
The useful formulas are:

W x for r Z 0 120 [3.6]

b 0.85 0.6 x for r Z 0 120

30 [3.7]
Where, x 0.441
r Z0
 The attenuation due to dielectric loss is:
k tan
d Np / m [3.8]
2
The attenuation due to the conductor loss:

2.7 10 3 Rs r Z 0 A

c 30 b t for r Z 0 120
Np / m
0 .16 R s for r Z 0 120
B
Z 0b [3.9]
 With:

2W 1 b t 2b t
A 1 ln [3.10]
bt bt t
b 0.441t 1 4W
B 1 0.5 ln
0.5W 0.7t W 2 t

[3.11]

Where t is the thickness of the strip

 Find the width for a 50 copper stripline
conductor, with b = 0.32 cm and r = 2.20. If
STRIPLINE
[EXAMPLE 1] the dielectric loss tangent (tan ) is 0.001
and the operating frequency is 10 GHz,
calculate the attenuation in dB/. Assume
the conductor thickness of t = 0.01 mm and
surface resistance, Rs of 0.026
 Since r Z 0 2.2 (50) and
74.2 120

30
SOLUTION x 0.441 0.830
[EXAMPLE r Z0
2.1]

Eq [3.6] gives the width as W = bx = (0.32)(0.830)

= 0.266 cm. At 10 GHz, the wave number is

2f r
k 310.6m 1
c
 The dielectric attenuation is
k tan (310.6)(0.001)
d 0.155 Np / m
SOLUTION
2 2
[EXAMPLE 2.1] Surface resistance of copper at 10 GHz is
Rs = 0.026 . Then from eq
2.7 103 Rs r Z 0 A
c 0.122 Np / m
30 (b t )
since A = 4.74
The total attenuation constant is
c d 0.277 Np / m
 In dB;
(dB / m) 20 log e 2.41dB / m
SOLUTION
[EXAMPLE At 10 GHz, the wavelength on the stripline is;
2.1]
c
2.02cm
f r
So in terms of the wavelength the attenuation is

(dB / ) (2.41)(0.0202) 0.049dB /

But why do we need to convert Np/m to
dB/m using this way?
(dB / m) 20 log e ( Np / m ) 2.41dB / m
loss to the transmission line is reflected by the
attenuation constant. The amplitude of the
signal decays as e-.
The natural units of the attenuation constant
are Nepers/meter, but we often convert to
dB/meter in microwave engineering. To get
loss in dB/length, multiply Nepers/length by
8.686.

15
An Approximate
Electrostatic
Solution

Figure 3.3: geometry of enclosed stripline

 By derivation found in M.Pozars book (page 141), the
surface charge density on the strip at y = b/2 is:


s D y x , y b 2 D y x, y b 2



0 r E y x, y b 2 E y x, y b 2



n nx nb
2 0 r An cos cosh
n 1 a a 2a [3.12]
odd
The charge density on the strip line by uniform distribution:

1 for x W 2
s x [3.13]
0 for x W 2
 The capacitance per unit length of the stripline is:

Q W
C Fd / m
V
2a sin nW 2a sinh nb 2a

n 1 n 2
0 r cosh nb 2a
odd
[3.14]

The characteristic impedance is then found as:

L LC 1 r
Z0
C C v p C cC [3.15]