Abstract
A uniplanar hybrid rat-race coupler has been fabricated on a flexible polyimide film for wearable and flexible RF applications. To enhance the reliability and repeatability of its operation in flexible environment, the coupler is designed using an asymmetric coplanar strip (ACPS) structure. Compared to the microstrip line or coplanar waveguide (CPW) structures, the ACPS requires no via holes through the substrate and reduces the number of air bridges. The dimension of the ACPS is determined by both analytic design equations and full electromagnetic simulation. The coupler was fabricated through photolithography and e-beam evaporation processes. The measurement shows that the insertion loss and phase error are less than 6 dB and 7°, respectively, from 7.4 to 7.9 GHz. The port matching and isolation performance are better than 13.4 dB over the same frequency band.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 38-46 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Journal of Electromagnetic Waves and Applications |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2017 Jan 2 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was supported by BK21 plus through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Keywords
- Asymmetric coplanar strip (ACPS)
- flexible substrate
- polyimide
- rat-race coupler
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- Physics and Astronomy(all)
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering