Distributed Passive Intermodulation Distortion on Transmission Lines

Author

Wilkerson, Jonathan R. ; Lam, Peter G. ; Gard, Kevin G. ; Steer, Michael B.

Author_Institution

Phys. Devices, LLC, Raleigh, NC, USA

Volume

59

Issue

5

fYear

2011

fDate

5/1/2011 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1190

Lastpage

1205

Abstract

A theoretical treatment of distributed electro-thermally induced intermodulation distortion is developed for microstrip transmission lines. The growth of passive intermodulation distortion (PIM) along the length of a line is derived accounting for both loss and electrical dispersion. PIM dependencies on width, length, thickness, and substrate parameters are analyzed leading to design guidelines for low distortion lines. Single metal silver transmission lines are fabricated on sapphire and fused-quartz substrates to isolate the electro-thermal effect and validate the model. Electro-thermal PIM is measured in a two-tone test with tone separation ranging from 4 Hz to 10 kHz.

Keywords

intermodulation distortion; microstrip lines; quartz; sapphire; transmission lines; distributed electro-thermally induced intermodulation distortion; distributed passive intermodulation distortion; electrical dispersion; electro-thermal passive intermodulation distortion; frequency 4 Hz to 10 kHz; fused-quartz substrate; metal silver transmission line; microstrip transmission line; sapphire; tone separation; Heat transfer; Power transmission lines; Resistance heating; Strips; Substrates; Electro-thermal effects; microstrip line; passive intermodulation distortion (PIM); transmission-line model;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Microwave Theory and Techniques, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9480

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TMTT.2011.2106138

Filename

5711704