Electromagnetic analysis of three dimensional microstrip circuits using a periodic structure model

A new approach based on a periodic structure model is developed for full-wave electromagnetic analysis of shielded, passive microstrip components on multilayered substrate. The spectral domain integral equation approach is employed in conjunction with the Method of Moments and the Galerkin testing procedure. General planar and certain three dimensional structures such as vias and air bridges are analyzed using the presented technique. This novel approach is based on the formulation for periodic structures and its application to include shielded and radiation phenomena is demonstrated. The technique also results in a speed up factor of about three compared to the method presented in [1]. Both direct and iterative techniques are employed to solve the resultant operator equations. Scattering parameters for microstrip discontinuities are compared for shielded and unshielded configurations.