Modeling non-saturated ferrite-based devices: Application to twin toroid ferrite phase shifters

Abstract

This article describes a new set of tools developed to improve the conception and modeling of non-saturated ferrite-based devices such as twin toroid phase shifters. These new simulation tools benefit from a generalized permeability tensor model able to describe the permeability tensor of a ferrite sample whatever its magnetization state. This model is coupled to a homemade 3D multi-scale magnetostatic analysis program, which describes the evolution of the magnetization through the definition of a hysteresis loop in every mesh cell. These computed spectra are then integrated into 3D electromagnetic simulation software that retains the spatial variations of the ferrite properties by using freshly developed macro programming functions. This new approach allows the designers to accurately model complex ferrite devices such as twin toroid phase shifters. In particular, we demonstrated a good agreement between simulated and measured phase shifts as a function of applied current values with a predicted maximum phase shift of 0.96 times the measured value.