Full-wave analysis of choking characteristics of sleeve balun on coaxial cables

An optimal design for a sleeve balun with maximum choking on a coaxial cable is determined using a full-wave body of revolution finite difference time domain method with perfectly matched layer boundary conditions. An analysis of the sensitivity of choke length L and outer diameter R₂ on choking effectiveness was carried out. A balun with L=77.5 mm (0.232λ₀) and R₂=8 mm on a cable with R₁=2 mm (R₂/R₁=4) results in an S₂₁ of -20 dB at 900 MHz and -15.5 dB at 2730 MHz. The isolation of the balun at 900 MHz is quickly degraded as the R₂ /R₁ ratio is reduced below 2. Increasing R₂/R₁ to 8, results in a reduction of optimum balun length L to approximately 0.215λ₀, approximately 14% shorter than the typical recommended length for an ´ideal´ quarter-wave balun