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Abstract

A new design of wideband directional couplers using a semi-elliptical edge-coupled structure is presented. This structure consists of two semi-elliptical patches on the top layer and an elliptical defected ground plane on the bottom layer to increase the coupling coefficient and operating bandwidth. Even and odd mode analysis is performed, and sets of design graphs are formulated to facilitate the design of the coupler on substrate with dielectric constants of 2.2 and 3.38. The operating frequency and coupling are controlled by the dimensions of the elliptical patch and the size of the air gap. Compared to the conventional parallel-microstrip coupler which requires extremely narrow air gap to achieve tighter coupling factor, the semi-elliptical coupler allows for wider air gap to be used, and it reduces fabrication difficulty. Both simulation and measurement results show that the proposed design exhibits wideband characteristic with a bandwidth ratio of more than 2.4 with acoupling deviation of ±1 dB.

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Dr. Yew-Chiong Lo

Dr. Boon-Kuan Chung

Professor Eng Hock Lim