Dispersion In n Coupled Microstrip Meanders

A meander Iine consisting of an even (n), or odd (n-1), number of coupled microstrips has been analyzed for its dispersion and iterative impendance characteristics. In contrast with the unit cell approximation used by other authors, this method takes all the couplings into account and enables correct determination of stopband locations, which is very important in the design of such slow-wave structures. Other periodic structures can also be analyzed by this method, and their possible future applications as filters, etc., can be predicted.