Propagation characteristics of picosecond electrical pulses on a periodically loaded coplanar waveguide

A theoretical model which was developed to investigate the propagation characteristics of picosecond electrical pulses on a coplanar waveguide capacitively coupled to periodically spaced sampling channels is presented. Various factors which affect the signal waveform are analyzed in both the frequency and the time domains. The results show that in addition to modal dispersion, conductor loss, and radiation loss of the electrical signals, multiple reflections among the sampling gaps constitute another feature of the signal transfer along the waveguide. The authors have measured the picosecond pulse dispersion using the optoelectronic correlation technique. The experimental data are compared with the theoretical results