Parallel Coupled Microstrip Couplers Compensated with Periodic Floating-Conductors on Coupled Edges

Abstract

This paper presents a new quarter-wavelength microstrip coupler compensated with a periodic sequence of floating metallic strips in the slots on the inner edges. After describing the characteristics of the coupled-line, as an example, a 15-dB coupler is designed and a high directivity of 30dB or more in theory is obtained over a full band of a single-section coupler. Next, couplers with various coupling factors are designed, and the usefulness for very loose coupling is demonstrated. Furthermore, a three-section coupler is designed to show the effectiveness in a wide frequency range. The validity of the design concept and procedure is confirmed by electromagnetic simulations and experiments.