Skip to main content
eScholarship
Open Access Publications from the University of California

UC San Diego

UC San Diego Previously Published Works bannerUC San Diego

Broadband Fast-Wave Propagation in a Non-Foster Circuit Loaded Waveguide

Abstract

Frequency independent fast-wave (FW) propagation with phase velocity greater than the speed of light can be ideally realized in a dielectric medium whose relative permittivity is positive, but less than 1. Conventionally, FW propagation is implemented by non-TEM waveguides or antiresonance-based metamaterials, which suffers from the narrow bandwidth due to the dispersion. In contrast, non-Foster circuits provide a brand new method for reducing the dispersion so as to broaden the bandwidth. This paper demonstrates broadband FW propagation in a microstrip line that is periodically loaded with non-Foster circuits. Discrete transistor-based non-Foster circuits functioning as negative capacitors are successfully designed with the novel modified negative impedance converter circuits. A-10-pF negative capacitor over a bandwidth of 10-150 MHz has been implemented. The fabricated circuits have been integrated into a microstrip line to form a FW waveguide. The retrieved phase velocity of the effective medium from the measured S-parameters characterizes a stable and causal FW medium with constant phase velocity of 1.2c from 60 to 120 MHz, and this has been further verified by Kramers-Kronig relations and the near-field measurements along the waveguide. In conclusion, a stable, causal, and broadband FW waveguide has been achieved by means of transistor-based non-Foster circuits. The implemented broadband FW propagation can potentially be applied in broadband leaky-wave antennas and cloaking techniques. © 1963-2012 IEEE.

Many UC-authored scholarly publications are freely available on this site because of the UC's open access policies. Let us know how this access is important for you.

Main Content
For improved accessibility of PDF content, download the file to your device.
Current View