Printed Circuit Board Technology Research Articles

Low‐cost and easy‐to‐embed 7‐bit 360° phase shifter with transitions for large‐scale phased arrays

AbstractIn this letter, a low‐cost and easy‐to‐embed 7‐bit 360° phase shifter with transitions is presented for applications to beamforming in the large‐scale phased array. In the proposed 360° phase shifter, the topology of the reflection‐type phase shifter (RTPS) is employed, composed of a 3‐dB branchline coupler terminated with two tunable parallel L–C loads. First, a two‐step phase extraction process for RTPS is applied to design the RTPS rapidly with competitive performance, including 360° phase range and low insertion loss. A huge amount of parameter sweep is reduced in the design and test. Meanwhile, the parameter of inductors in the tunable loads is investigated effectively, to achieve the minimal phase step. Second, aiming at the enhanced performance of beamforming and improved flexibility of integration, the stripline is adopted in the design of the phase shifter, avoiding the interference on antenna radiation effectively. To facilitate the integration with antenna and radio frequency connectors of the input and output signals, a stripline‐to‐microstrip line transition with electromagnetic bandgap structures is adopted. By this means, the complexity and cost of fabrication are decreased. Finally, fabricated in the low‐cost printed circuit board technology, our proof‐of‐concept design operated from 2.4 to 2.5 GHz is measured and achieves a 386.8° phase shift range with an insertion loss of 2.21 ± 0.82 dB at 2.45 GHz.

Size-reduced substrate-integrated waveguide resonator designed using the quadrangular-star-slot metasurfaces

A particular kind of substrate-integrated waveguide (SIW) resonator is studied inspired by loading new quadrangular-star-slot metasurfaces (QSSMs). It is demonstrated that the QSSMs can effectively make the resonator electrically smaller. Good agreement has been observed between the numerical and experimental results for a specific QSSMs-loaded SIW resonator. It is revealed that the practical SIW resonator has a patch size of 0.585λg × 0.585λg, which is smaller than the conventional 0.707λg × 0.707λg. The QSSMs-loaded SIW resonators are simple to fabricate using the current print circuit board technology at a low cost.

Boosting the sensitivity of single photon ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry using a segmented focus quadrupole-ion guide

Single photon ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (SPI-TOF-MS) is a powerful analytical technique for real-time detection of trace VOCs. However, efficient ion transmission within the ionization chamber has always been a challenging issue in SPI-TOF-MS. In this study, a novel ion guide termed the Segmented Focus Quadrupole Ion Guide (SFQ-IG) was introduced for SPI-TOF-MS. The SFQ-IG device consists of 12 printed circuit boards (PCB), each containing four quarter-ring electrodes with inner diameters progressively decreasing from 26 to 4 mm. The simulation results demonstrated that SFQ-IG exhibited superior ion transmission efficiency than both ion funnel (IF) field and direct current-only (DC-only) field. By integrating into a SPI-TOF-MS, this ion guide was optimized in terms of the ionization source pressure, direct current gradient, and radio frequency amplitude. Further comparative experiments demonstrated that the SPI-TOF-MS with the SFQ-IG exhibited higher sensitivity than both the IF field (1.3–7.4 times) and DC-only field (3.5–8.8 times) for the test VOCs. The improvements in limit of detection (LOD) with the SFQ-IG ranged from 1.6 to 5.3 times compared to the DC-only field for the test VOCs. Fabricated using PCB technology, the SFQ-IG is characterized by its cost-effectiveness, compact size, and high transmission efficiency, facilitating its integration into other mass spectrometers.

Theory vs. Reality: Using Printed Circuit Board Technology for Grounded Coplanar Waveguide at Millimeter-Wave Frequencies: Understanding PCB Technology for Millimeter-Wave Applications

Theory vs. Reality: Using Printed Circuit Board Technology for Grounded Coplanar Waveguide at Millimeter-Wave Frequencies: Understanding PCB Technology for Millimeter-Wave Applications

Planar Two-Dimensional Capacitive Displacement Sensor Based on Time Grating

Efforts to meet the demand for planar two-dimensional (2D) displacement measurement systems are limited by the difficulties of manufacturing 2D diffraction gratings with high precision over a large area. The present work addresses this issue by capitalizing on the high-precision of one-dimensional capacitive displacement sensors based on time-grating to develop a planar 2D capacitive displacement sensor technology composed of a large-area array of excitation electrodes positioned on a fixed ruler and a small-area array of induction electrodes assembled on a coplanar moving ruler that travels over the fixed ruler at a fixed separation gap. Firstly, the individual traveling wave signals of the induction electrodes on the moving ruler are analyzed theoretically to develop a method for decoupling information pertaining to the separate displacements in the <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">x</i> and <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">y</i> directions. Then, the feasibility of the proposed decoupling method is verified by simulations based on a three-dimensional electric field model. Finally, the proposed measurement technology is validated experimentally based on tests conducted using a prototype sensor manufactured using standard printed circuit board technology. The experimental results demonstrate that the prototype sensor achieves measurement errors of ±8.2 μm and ±6.8 μm in the <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">x</i> and <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">y</i> directions, respectively, over the full 200 mm × 200 mm measurement range of the sensor.

Achieving High-Precision, Low-Cost Microfluidic Chip Fabrication with Flexible PCB Technology.

Soft lithography has long remained the state of the art to generate the necessary micropatterning for molded microfluidic (MF) chips. Previous attempts to use printed circuit boards (PCBs) as a cheap and accessible alternative to expensive lithographed molds for the production of PDMS MF chip prototypes have shown their limitations. A more in-depth exploration of using PCBs as a mold substrate and a novel methodology of using flexible PCBs to produce highly accurate MF chips is reported here for the first time. Cross sections highlight the improved accuracy of this method, and peel testing is performed to demonstrate suitable adhesion between the glass substrate and PDMS cast. Positive cell growth viability showcases this novel method as a high-accuracy, high-accessibility, low-cost prototyping method for microfluidic chips while still maintaining all favorable properties provided by the PDMS material.

Two-Layer Inkjet-Printed Microwave Split-Ring Resonators for Detecting Analyte Binding to the Gold Surface.

This work focuses on demonstrating the working principle of inkjet-printed Au nanoparticle (NP) two-layer Gigahertz (2.6 GHz) microwave split-ring resonators (SRRs) as a novel platform for the detection of analytes on flexible substrates. In contrast to the standard fabrication of split-ring resonator biosensors using printed circuit board technology, which results in a seven-layer system, the resonators in this work were fabricated using a two-layer system. A ground plane is embedded in the SRR measurement setup. In this method, a microwave electromagnetic wave is coupled into the Au SRR via an inkjet-printed Cu-NP stripline that is photonically sintered. This coupling mechanism facilitates the detection of analytes by inducing resonance shifts in the SRR. In this study, the functionality of the printed sensors was demonstrated using two different Au functionalization processes, firstly, with HS-PEG7500-COOH, and, secondly, with protein G with an N-terminal cysteine residue. The sensing capabilities of the printed structures are shown by the attachment of biomolecules to the SRR and the measurement of the resulting resonance shift. The experiments show a clear shift of the resonance frequency in the range of 20-30 MHz for both approaches. These results demonstrate the functionality of the simplified printed two-layer microwave split-ring resonator for use as a biosensor.

Demonstration of bound states in the continuum in substrate integrated waveguides.

Substrate integrated waveguides (SIWs) components play a crucial role in microwave devices fabricated by printed circuit board (PCB) technology. Bound states in the continuum (BICs) have high-quality factors that approach infinity. So far, there is little research on BICs in SIWs. Therefore, we studied a symmetry-protected BIC generated by the coupling between SIW and SIW resonators to fill this gap. Using the revised coupled mode theory (CMT), we explored the mechanism of resonance generation in this system. In addition, the effect of the geometrical parameters on the resonance is also investigated and higher Q3dB factors are obtained. The findings offer new insights into the design of BIC devices by traditional PCB technology, thus contributing to future applications in the integrated circuits field.

A low-frequency ultrathin metamaterial absorber using magnetic material

In this paper, an ultra-thin metamaterial absorber (UMA) in the S-band is designed. The overall structure adopts a three-layer design. The top layer is a magnetic material, and the middle layer of the UMA is composed of a centrally symmetrical open square ring (four edges are opened) and a circular pattern placed at the center, which is etched on the FR4 dielectric substrate by printed circuit board technology. The absorptivity of the absorber is more than 90% in 1.73–4.04 GHz under normal incidence, and the fractional bandwidth is 80.1%. The total thickness of the absorber is about 3.4 mm, corresponding to 0.02 λL at the lowest operating frequency. Moreover, it also has good polarization insensitivity and wide-angle incident characteristics. The absorption mechanism of the UMA is analyzed from the aspects of power loss density and surface current. Finally, a sample was fabricated and measured. The measured results are in good agreement with the simulation results, which verifies the effectiveness of the design method.

A Microwave Differential Dielectric Sensor Based on Mode Splitting of Coupled Resonators

This study explores the viability of using the avoided mode crossing phenomenon in the microwave regime to design microwave differential sensors. While the design concept can be applied to any type of planar electrically small resonators, here, it is implemented on split-ring resonators (SRRs). We use two coupled synchronous SRRs loaded onto a two-port microstrip line system to demonstrate the avoided mode crossing by varying the distance between the split of the resonators to control the coupling strength. As the coupling becomes stronger, the split in the resonance frequencies of the system increases. Alternatively, by controlling the strength of the coupling by materials under test (MUTs), we utilize the system as a microwave differential sensor. First, the avoided mode crossing is theoretically investigated using the classical microwave coupled resonator techniques. Then, the system is designed and simulated using a 3D full-wave numerical simulation. To validate the concept, a two-port microstrip line, which is magnetically coupled to two synchronous SRRs, is utilized as a sensor, where the inter-resonator coupling is chosen to be electric coupling controlled by the dielectric constant of MUTs. For the experimental validation, the sensor was fabricated using printed circuit board technology. Two solid slabs with dielectric constants of 2.33 and 9.2 were employed to demonstrate the potential of the system as a novel differential microwave sensor.

Theoretical and Experimental Investigation of a Wireless Passive Pressure Sensor Based on Flexible Printed Circuit Board Technology

Theoretical and Experimental Investigation of a Wireless Passive Pressure Sensor Based on Flexible Printed Circuit Board Technology

Miniature water flow energy harvester based on savonius-type microturbine: an experimental study

In this experimental study, a miniature turbine-based water flow energy harvester designed for the purpose of providing power to wireless sensors within water pipes is reported. The device comprises a Savonius-type turbine and a radial flux permanent magnet electromagnetic generator. The two are magnetically coupled so that, while the turbine is submerged in the water flow, the generator operates in air. The device is cylindrical with a diameter of 0.8 cm and a length of 7.2 cm and, when inserted through a hole in a pipe wall so that only the turbine protrudes into the flow, it presents a cross-sectional area to the flow of only 1.25 cm2. Manufacturing was achieved through a blend of conventional machining methods, laser cutting, rapid prototyping, and the utilization of flexible printed circuit board technology for the generator stator. To ensure low friction and minimize cut in speed, ceramic ball bearings were employed. The prototype can function effectively at water velocities as low as 0.5 m s−1, generating electrical power within the range of 125 µW–5.1 mW when subjected to flow speeds between 0.5 and 2 m s−1. A maximum overall efficiency of 2.2% is achieved, when the water speed is 0.8 m s−1. Performance curves derived from experimental testing of the turbine for a range of rotor designs, obtained on a water flow rig, are presented and discussed.

Miniaturized electronically controlled notched band filter based on spoof surface plasmon polaritons

In this paper, a novel miniaturized electronical controlled notch band filter based on spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SSPPs) with inverted “山”-shaped unit is designed and experimentally demonstrated. The notch band filter is mainly composed of four parts: microstrip transmission line, transition structure, inverted “山”-shaped SSPPs, and split ring resonator (SRR) structure, and a varactor diode is embedded in the slit notch of the SRR structure to realize electronic control. Comparing with the traditional SSPP unit with the same lateral size, the dispersion curve of the proposed inverted “山”-shaped unit shows better slow wave characteristics, and the asymptotic frequency is reduced to 55%. The frequency of the notch band can be dynamically controlled by adjusting the external bias voltage at both ends of the varactor diode. As the external bias voltage increases from 0.5 V to 30 V, the notch band frequency can be changed from 2.1 GHz to 2.3 GHz and achieve easily electronic regulation. The simulation results show that the notched band filter achieves low insertion loss (&lt;i&gt;S&lt;/i&gt;&lt;sub&gt;21&lt;/sub&gt; &lt; –1 dB) and great return loss (&lt;i&gt;S&lt;/i&gt;&lt;sub&gt;11&lt;/sub&gt; &gt; –10 dB) in the pass band, which has the advantage of miniaturization with the size only 0.78&lt;i&gt;λ&lt;/i&gt;&lt;sub&gt;g&lt;/sub&gt; × 0.35&lt;i&gt;λ&lt;/i&gt;&lt;sub&gt;g&lt;/sub&gt;. It is worth noting that when the equivalent capacitance of the slit notch is changed, the transmission coefficient of the notched band is always less than –15 dB, showing superior band-stop performance. At the same time, by comparing and analyzing the electric field distribution of notch band filter, the transmission mechanism of microwave signal is further verified. In order to verify the its effectiveness, the traditional printed circuit board technology is used to fabricate notch band filter. The measurement results are in good agreement with the simulation ones, verifying the feasibility of the design. The electronically controlled notch band filter has higher integration and can effectively suppress the interference frequency band.

A Decoupling Technique for Beamforming Antenna Arrays Using Simple Guard Trace Structures

This paper discusses decoupling techniques for suppressing electromagnetic coupling between elements of beamforming antenna arrays. Guard trace structures, which are commonly used for crosstalk reduction on printed circuit board technology, are proposed to be inserted between the array elements for coupling reduction. Two types of guard trace structures, i.e., straight guard traces and serpentine guard traces, were explored, and the effect of using via holes on both types of guard traces was studied. For this purpose, two-element antenna arrays with guard trace structures inserted between array elements were designed and simulated. The simulation results showed that a straight guard trace with vias (straight GTV) and a serpentine guard trace without vias (serpentine GT) could effectively reduce EM coupling between elements of array antennas. To verify the simulation results, prototypes of antenna arrays with straight GTV and serpentine GT were realized and measured. The measurement results showed coupling reductions of 5 dB and 6.4 dB could be achieved when straight GTV and serpentine GT are inserted between two array elements separated by edge-to-edge distances of 4 mm and 9.05 mm, respectively. Therefore, the proposed decoupling technique is suitable for beamforming antenna arrays with a very close distance between array elements.

Grid composite meta-surface absorber with thermal isolation structure for terahertz detection.

This paper specifically focuses on the absorber, the critical component responsible for the detector's response performance. The meta-surface absorber combines two resonant structures and achieves over 80% absorptance around 210 GHz, resulting in a broad operating frequency range. FR-4 is selected as the dielectric layer to be compatible with standard printed circuit board (PCB) technology, which reduces the overall fabrication time and cost. The absorbing unit and array layout are symmetrically designed, providing stable absorptance performance even under incident waves of different polarization angles. The polarization-insensitive absorptance characteristic further enhances the compatibility between the absorber and the detector in the application scenario. Furthermore, the thermal insulation performance of the absorber is ensured by introducing thermal insulation gaps. After completing fabrication through PCB technology, testing revealed that the absorber maintained excellent absorptance performance within its primary operating frequency range. This performance consistency closely matched the simulation results.

A Segmental 2D Readout Board Manufactured in Printed Circuit Board Technology for Gas Electron Multiplier Detectors.

The Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) was introduced by Fabio Sauli in 1997. This technology is broadly used in current and planned High-Energy Physics (HEP) experiments. One of the key components of these detectors is a readout board, which collects charges amplified by GEM foils and transfers them to readout electronics. The commonly used Cartesian XY readout boards are manufactured from the same type of polyamide film used to produce the GEM foils. The manufacturing process utilizes a deep polyimide etching, similar to the Micro Chemical Vias (MCV) etching process, which is protected by patent. The material prepared in this way is glued onto a rigid substrate and mounted in a detector. The production process was developed at CERN, and the technology has been commercialized to a small extent. Consequently, only a few research centers have the ability to make dedicated readout strips readouts. GEM detectors are characterized by a segmented structure that allows the separation of an electron-multiplying structure from a readout. This feature enables the implementation of a new type of charge reading system without the need to interfere with the GEM foil system. A new approach is proposed to simplify production and reduce the costs of GEM detector readout boards. It is based on the concept of segmental readout structures that are manufactured in standard Printed Circuit Board (PCB) technology. The interconnectors and mountings are located on the back of the bottom, so it is possible to place the readout electronics behind the readout plate. The boards are designed in such a way that they can be panelized into a readout with a more extensive active area. The margin between PCBs is minimalized to approximately 200 µm, which is less than 1% of the 70 × 70 mm2 board area, so the active area is as big as possible. Therefore, this solution gives us the ability to further increase the size of a readout by adding additional segments, which reduces the cost of scaling up the detector size. A few research groups have suggested similar solutions that utilize PCB technology, but currently, only detectors with 1D zigzag readouts have been validated and used. The measurement results of other 2D (XY) redouts using PCB technology have not been presented. The measurements shown and discussed in this paper validated the proposed technology. X-ray radiographs were obtained, validating the ability to use this technology to manufacture readout boards for GEM detectors. In opposition to state-of-the-art readouts, the proposed solution can be manufactured by any PCB manufacturer without using MCV-patented technology. This gives the users flexibility in designing and ordering low-cost custom readouts.

Frequency and Angle Multiplexed Metadevices with Multifunctional Polarization Modulation

AbstractMultifunctional polarization controllers are highly desirable in numerous fields due to their potential applications. Although the emergence of metasurfaces provides a powerful platform for manipulating the polarization of electromagnetic waves, metasurfaces have not yet enabled multifunctional controllers. Here, this work demonstrates an effective strategy to design a multifunctional polarization controller through the integration of frequency and angular multiplexing. As an experimental proof, a non‐planar dual‐multiplexed metadevice composed of a chiral metagrating array and an anisotropic metasurface is fabricated by printed circuit board technology. The experiments show that at least five distinct functions, including ultra‐broadband linear‐to‐circular polarization conversion in 2.5–6.3 GHz, ultra‐broadband linear‐to‐linear polarization conversion in 6.6–11.0 GHz, strong optical activity between 11.4 and 12.2 GHz, giant linear and circular dichroism ≈5.96 and 12.97 GHz, respectively, can be accomplished by the proposed meta‐multiplexer. Hence, the proposed metadevice can act as high‐efficiency bifunctional waveplate, polarization rotator, linear polarizer, chiral metamirror, and so on, enabling more application flexibility. The concept of integrating multidimensional multiplexing proposed here will be of great benefit to the design of novel multifunctional polarization controllers.

Design of Miniaturized FSS with High Angular Stability Utilizing a Novel Closed Loop

In this paper, we propose a miniaturized 2.5-dimensional (2.5D) frequency selective surface (FSS) structure with high angular stability. A novel closed-loop FSS is formed by combining the Jerusalem cross (JC) structure with the conventional rectangular closed loop using vias. This approach further enhances the coupling performance of the FSS and thus achieves miniaturized design. The unit cell size of the proposed FSS is 0.019λ0 × 0.019λ0 at the resonant frequency, and the metal is printed on a dielectric substrate with a thickness of 0.003λ0. The proposed FSS has a resonant frequency of 850 MHz and exhibits band-stop characteristics. It is insensitive to the incident angle with a good operating performance in both the TE and TM wave modes. Therefore, it can be well used as an electromagnetic shield for the GSM 850 band. In order to facilitate the rapid analysis and design of the FSS, the equivalent circuit model is further analyzed and established, and values of the corresponding lumped components are derived. In addition, a prototype FSS is fabricated using printed circuit board technology and is tested in a microwave anechoic chamber. The full-wave analysis simulation, equivalent circuit model simulation, and practical measurement results reflect a high level of consistency.

Optimal Coil Design for Coreless Linear Motors Based on the Extended Stream-Function Method

This paper concerns a coil design technique for coreless linear motors that is based on the stream-function methodology. This method allows for the synthesis of the optimal conductor shape on a source surface based on constraints and objectives in an optimization problem. The method is extended to allow for motion and multi-phase commutation and is applied to the design of coils for coreless linear motors with concentrated and distributed winding configurations. A manufacturable conductor is extracted for a motor with a concentrated coil configuration. The resulting coil is compared to a traditional concentrated coil-set by a simulation of a coreless linear motor, in which the windings are produced using printed circuit board technology. It shows an increase in force production for the geometry with the conductor designed using the stream-function method, whereas the average temperatures in the coils of both geometries are identical.

Magnetic Beads inside Droplets for Agitation and Splitting Manipulation by Utilizing a Magnetically Actuated Platform.

We successfully developed a platform for the magnetic manipulation of droplets containing magnetic beads and examined the washing behaviors of the droplets, including droplet transportation, magnetic bead agitation inside droplets, and separation from parent droplets. Magnetic field gradients were produced with two layers of 6 × 1 planar coils fabricated by using printed circuit board technology. We performed theoretical analyses to understand the characteristics of the coils and successfully predicted the magnetic field and thermal temperature of a single coil. We then investigated experimentally the agitation and splitting kinetics of the magnetic beads inside droplets and experimentally observed the washing performance in different neck-shaped gaps. The performance of the washing process was evaluated by measuring both the particle loss ratio and the optical density. The findings of this work will be used to design a magnetic-actuated droplet platform, which will separate magnetic beads from their parent droplets and enhance washing performance. We hope that this study will provide digital microfluidics for application in point-of-care testing. The developed microchip will be of great benefit for genetic analysis and infectious disease detection in the future.