An analysis of leaky modes excited on stripline structures

With the decreasing dimensions and increasing speed and complexity of integrated circuit devices has come an interest in the behavior of layered structure devices at high frequency. One such layered structure common to integrated circuit devices is the stripline. Although attention has been focused on the analysis of non-leaky higher order modes excited on stripline structures, little has been documented about the excitation of leaky modes on stripline structures. Leaky modes give rise to fields which carry power transversely away from the stripline guiding axis and as such, if excited can cause coupling between devices resulting in interference and crosstalk in integrated circuits. The analysis is begun by developing a Hertzian potential Green´s function for a generalized impressed current source suspended in the space between two infinitely wide, perfectly-conducting plates. The Green´s function established for the generalized current source is then specialized to a stripline structure by enforcing boundary conditions for tangential fields at the perfectly conducting surface of the center conductor. This results in an electric field integral equation (EFIE) for currents on the stripline.