Half-spaced substrate integrated spoof surface plasmon polaritons based transmission line.

Area of Science:

• Electromagnetics and Wave Propagation
• Materials Science for Electronics
• Microwave and RF Engineering

Background:

• Spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) enable subwavelength electromagnetic wave confinement.
• Existing SPP transmission lines (TLs) often exhibit full-space EM energy distribution, leading to interference vulnerabilities.
• Controlling EM energy confinement is crucial for optimizing TL performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and characterize a new semi-open SPP-based TL structure.
• To demonstrate adjustable EM energy confinement for performance balancing.
• To investigate the TL's reduced vulnerability to external interference.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of a single-layer substrate with metallized via holes on a ground plane.
• Fabrication and measurement of Ka-band prototypes.
• Application of the Bianco-Parodi (BP) method to derive attenuation from S-parameters.

Main Results:

• The proposed semi-open TL successfully guides EM power as a controlled slow surface wave.
• Adjustable EM energy confinement was achieved, allowing for a balance between attenuation and interference.
• The semi-open structure showed reduced susceptibility to nearby interference compared to fully-open designs.
• Measured results validated the TL's performance at Ka band.

Conclusions:

• The novel semi-open SPP TL provides a promising platform for managing EM energy confinement.
• The design offers improved interference resilience, crucial for high-frequency applications.
• The structure's scalability to THz frequencies opens avenues for next-generation THz components and systems.