Gap Waveguide-Based PMC Packaging for via Holes-Caused Nonsmooth PEC Surface

We investigate the application of perfect magnetic conductor (PMC) packaging for a nonsmooth perfect electric conductor surface, caused by metalized via holes. The PMC shielding is artificially built by a metal lid of pins, based on the gap waveguide (GW) technology. As a foundation, the effects of via hole in a unit cell are studied first considering its diameter, substrate thickness, pin size, pin height, as well as relative position between the via hole and the pin. The via adjacent space and pin rows are also considered for a general grounded coplanar waveguide along with ground vias. The effectiveness of package for such a transmission line containing metalized via holes is then verified experimentally. It is shown that the measured performance agrees well with the simulation. This paper presents a guideline for the GW-based PMC packaging technology.