Via interconnection structures for x-band surface mount circulators

A method for modeling and designing various via interconnection structures for surface mount circulators is presented. The circulator-via assembly and the interconnection methods are described. The microstrip-via-microstrip structure is divided into parts, each part is treated separately. The background of empirical methods and microwave network theory is shown as a basis of the design steps. Interconnections including single and double vertical via structures are compared by means of the FDTD method. Based on a previously designed X-band circulator, the effects of the via connections on the circulator performance are investigated.