Mode-Matching Analysis of H-Plane Ferrite-Loaded

Rectangular Waveguide Discontinuities

Xiaoyong Shan,1 Zhongxiang Shen,1 Peng Thian Teo2

1
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Nanyang
Avenue, Singapore 639798
2
Center of Electromagnetics, DSO National Laboratories, Singapore
Received 5 March 2002; accepted 27 November 2002

ABSTRACT: The full set of eigenmodes existing in a ferrite-slab-loaded rectangular

waveguide is first obtained and then used to compute the scattering matrix of a junction
between an air-filled rectangular waveguide and an H-plane ferrite-slab-loaded rectangular
waveguide by using the mode-matching method. Numerical results for the scattering param-
eters of the H-plane waveguide discontinuity are compared to experimental data and those
obtained by Ansoft’s HFSS. Good agreement is observed. To demonstrate the usefulness of
this structure, a computer-optimized 90° nonreciprocal phase shifter is designed using an
H-plane ferrite-slab-loaded waveguide. With only one-step impedance matching sections at
both ends of the ferrite slab, a compact design is achieved to have 2° phase error and less than
ⴚ30 dB return loss over about 5% bandwidth. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and
Microwave CAE 13: 259 –268, 2003.

Keywords: waveguide discontinuities; H-plane ferrite-loaded waveguide; mode-matching method

I. INTRODUCTION waveguide. The H-plane dielectric-slab-loaded

waveguide was also found to be useful for improving
Rectangular waveguides loaded with dielectric and the performance of nonreciprocal devices, since it
ferrite slabs have been widely used in microwave presents a circularly polarized component at the air-
devices, such as phase shifters, isolators, circulators, dielectric interface over a limited frequency range [5].
and filters. Therefore, they have been the subject of Ferrite-slab-loaded waveguide problems are more
numerous investigations during the past 50 years complicated because of the anisotropic properties of
[1– 4]. The special case of a full-height E-plane di- the ferrite materials and the existence of complex
electric slab located in the center of a rectangular modes. Analytical solutions were obtained by several
waveguide with TEn0 mode incidence was thoroughly researchers for some simple structures [6] in which
studied by Vartanian, Ayres, and Helgesson [1]. Other the ferrite slabs were transversely magnetized, while
geometries such as two slabs placed symmetrically other structures or biasing in an arbitrary direction
with respect to the waveguide center and one asym- were solved using numerical methods, such as the
metrically located slab were analyzed by Seckelmann finite-element method (FEM) [7, 8]. Bresler [9] for-
[2] and Eberhardt [3], respectively. Gardiol [4] pre- mulated the integral equation for discontinuity at the
sented a general and complete solution for all the
transverse plane by separating two regions in a
modes existing in the E-plane dielectric-slab-loaded
waveguide — one isotropic and the other anisotropic
— and then used the variational expression based on
Correspondence to: Z. Shen; email: ezxshen@ntu.edu.sg
Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience. the integral equation to obtain numerical results for
wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mmce.10085 the scattering parameters. An analytical solution and

© 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

259
260 Shan, Shen, and Teo

experimental results for an E-plane ferrite-slab-filled

rectangular waveguide were presented by O’Brien
[10, 11]. Enegren and Kharadly [12] used the mode-
matching technique to analyze the scattering problem
of transverse discontinuities in nonreciprocal
waveguides. Uher, Arndt, and Bornemann [13] used
the modal-S-matrix method for designing E-plane fer-
rite-slab-loaded nonreciprocal waveguide phase shift-
ers with multisection impedance transformers at both
ports.
Analytical solutions to ferrite-slab-loaded wave- Figure 1. Geometry of a rectangular waveguide loaded
guide problems are desirable, but unfortunately, these with H-plane ferrite slabs.
solutions are usually very complicated and even not
available in many cases. It was often assumed in the
past that TEn0 modes are incident with ferrite slabs
located in the E-plane to simplify the problem (no rection of the biasing DC magnetic field is along the
variation in the y-axis). Under this assumption, only x-axis and the tensor permeability in the ferrite region
TEn0 modes are solved, not the complete set of is

冋 册
modes, and thus the solutions are limited to E-plane
applications. The analytical solutions to H-plane fer- ␮0 0 0
rite-slab-loaed waveguide problems (E-plane discon- ␮⫽ 0 ␮ j ␬ , (1)
tinuity problems) have not been reported in the liter- 0 ⫺j␬ ␮
ature, to the authors’ best knowledge.
This article deals with the waveguide discontinuity where
problem involving H-plane ferrite slabs. At first, the
propagation constants are numerically solved for all
the modes in a rectangular waveguide loaded with ␮ ⫽ ␮0 1 ⫹ 冉 ␻ 0␻ m
␻ 02 ⫺ ␻ 2
, 冊 (2)
full-height H-plane ferrite slabs that are transversely
magnetized. To avoid the tedious derivation of the ␻␻ m
field expressions, a matrix equation is solved and the ␬ ⫽ ␮0 , (3)
␻ 02 ⫺ ␻ 2
solution is presented in a very simple form, which is
particularly suitable for use in the mode-matching
with ␻0 ⫽ ␮0␥ H0, ␻m ⫽ ␮0␥ MS, H0 the applied DC
formulation to solve the waveguide discontinuity
bias magnetic field, MS the saturation magnetization
problem. Numerical results are obtained and verified
and ␥ the gyromagnetic ratio.
by comparing our mode-matching results with those
The electromagnetic field components of the
obtained by Ansoft’s HFSS and experimental data.
eigenmodes in the ferrite region have the form of
Furthermore, a nonreciprocal differential phase shifter

冉 冊
is designed using an H-plane ferrite-slab-loaded
m␲x ⫺ ␥ z
waveguide instead of the traditional E-plane ferrite- 共E x, H y, H z兲 ⫽ 共Ê x, Ĥ y, Ĥ z兲cos e , (4)
slab-loaded waveguide. In the H-plane situation, the a
ferrite and impedance matching dielectric materials
are secured at the bottom wall of the rectangular
waveguide, which is structurally simple and mechan-
共H x, E y, E z兲 ⫽ 共Ĥ x, Ê y, Ê z兲sin 冉 冊 m␲x ⫺ ␥ z
a
e , (5)
ically stable. With only one-step impedance trans-
formers at both ends of the ferrite slab, good perfor- where Êx, Ĥy, Ĥz, Ĥx, Êy and Êz are functions of
mance and a compact structure are obtained. variable y only, ␥ ⫽ ␣ ⫹ j␤ is the propagation
constant, m is an integer, whose value corresponds to
the excitation. For an H-plane ferrite-filled waveguide
II. EIGENMODES OF AN H-PLANE with TE10 mode incidence, m ⫽ 1. By varying the
FERRITE-FILLED RECTANGULAR value of m, one can determine the field expression and
WAVEGUIDE propagation constant of all the modes that can be
excited in the ferrite-filled waveguide.
The geometry considered in this section is a rectan- Using eqs. (1)–(5) and Maxwell’s curl equations,
gular waveguide loaded with an arbitrary number l of the following equation can be derived [14] for the ith
H-plane ferrite slabs, as shown in Figure 1. The di- layer of ferrite slabs.
 Analysis of Ferrite-Loaded Discontinuities 261

d ␸ˆ 共 y兲 ⫽ 关Êx Êz Ĥx Ĥz 兴T , (7)

␸ˆ 共 y兲 ⫽ Ai ␸ˆ 共 y兲 for yi⫺1 ⱕ y ⱕ yi , (6)
dy

where with the superscript T denoting the transpose and

冤 冥
␬i ␥ ␬i m␲ ⫺␥m␲ m2 ␲2 ␻␬2i
⫹ ⫹ j␻␮i
j␮i j␮i a j␻␧i a a2 j␻␧i j␮i
␥2 ⫺␥m␲
0 0 ⫺ j␻␮0
j␻␧i j␻␧i a
Ai ⫽ ⫺␥m␲ m2 ␲2 ⫺m␲␬i . (8)
⫺j␻␧i ⫺ 2 0
j␻␮i a a j␻␮i j␮i a
␥2 ⫺␥m␲ ⫺␬i ␥
j␻␧i ⫺ 0
j␻␮i j␻␮i a j␮i

The solution to eq. 6 is obtained to be

冘u
4
⫺1 ␭i共k,k兲共 y⫺yi⫺1兲
c i共m,n兲 ⫽ u
i共m,k兲 i共k,n兲 e . (16)
Ai 共 y⫺y i⫺1 兲
␸ˆ 共 y兲 ⫽ e ␸ˆ 共 yi⫺1 兲 ⫽ Ci ␸ˆ 共 yi⫺1 兲 k⫽1

for yi⫺1 ⱕ y ⱕ yi . (9) The field components can be calculated by

Matrix Ai in eq. (8) can be decomposed into the

product of a diagonal matrix ⌳i of eigenvalues and a
matrix Ui whose columns are the corresponding eig-
envectors as follows:
␾ˆ 共 y兲 m ⫽ 冘 冘u
4

k⫽1
冋 4

n⫽1
u⫺1
i共m,k兲 i共k,n兲 册
␸ˆ 共 yi⫺1 兲n e⫺ ␭ i共k,k兲y i⫺1 e␭ i共k,k兲y

m ⫽ 1 to 4, yi⫺1 ⱕ y ⱕ yi , (17)

A i ⫽ Ui ⌳i U⫺1
i . (10) where

where ␾(y)m is the mth element of vector ␸ˆ (y), namely, Êx,

Êz, Ĥx, Ĥz for m ⫽ 1 to 4, respectively,
⌳ i ⫽ diag关␭ia ⫺␭ia ␭ib ⫺␭ib 兴, (11) ui(m,k) is the element located on row m and column
k of matrix Ui,
u⫺1i(k,n) is the element located on row k and col-
␭ ia,ib ⫽ 冑 pi ⫹ qi ⫾ Qi
2
, (12)
umn n of matrix Ui⫺1,
␸ˆ (yi⫺1)n is the nth element of vector ␸ˆ (yi⫺1), which
denotes the field components at the boundary y ⫽ yi⫺1,
␲ 2 ␻ 2␧ i 2 ␭i(k,k) is the element located on row k and column
pi ⫽ ⫹ 共 ␬ i ⫺ ␮ 2i 兲 ⫺ ␥ 2, (13) k of matrix ⌳i.
a2 ␮i
After having obtained all the field components in
␲ 2␮ 0 the ferrite-slab regions (the air region can be treated as
q i ⫽ 2 ⫺ ␻ 2␮ 0␧ i ⫺ ␥ 2, (14)
a ␮i a ferrite region with ␮ ⫽ ␬ ⫽ 0 and ␧ ⫽ ␧0), one can
then match the four tangential components (Êx, Êz, Ĥx,

冑
Ĥz) along the material interface to derive the charac-
4 ␲ 2␬ 2i ␻ 2␮ 0␧ i
Qi ⫽ 共 p i ⫺ q i兲 2 ⫹ . (15) teristic equation, from which the propagation constant
a 2␮ 2i ␥ can be computed [14]. The field components at y ⫽
0 can be obtained as
Employing eq. (10), the element ci(m,n) of matrix Ci in
eq. (9) can then be written as ␸ˆ 共0兲 ⫽ 关0 0 ⫺t14 t13 兴, (18)
262 Shan, Shen, and Teo

Figure 2. Geometry of an H-plane ferrite-slab-loaded waveguide junction.

where t14 and t13 are elements of matrix T,

冘 冘 共B h
m m

共A ⫹ ⫺ I⫹
i ⫺ Ai 兲hi ⫽
⫹ II⫹
i i ⫹ B⫺
i hi 兲,
II⫺

T ⫽ eAl共b⫺y l⫺1兲 eAl⫺1共 y l⫺1⫺y l⫺2兲 · · · eA2共 y 2⫺y 1兲 eA1y 1. (19) i⫽1 i⫽1

(23)
Using eqs. (9) and (18), four (Êx, Êz, Ĥx, Ĥz) of the
field components at the regional interface can be where eI⫹i , hi
I⫹
are the normalized eigen mode func-
obtained. The other two components, Êy and Ĥy, can tions of the transverse electromagnetic fields [6] of the
be determined using eqs. (20) and (21). ith forward mode in the air-filled waveguide (Region
I), eII⫹,⫺
i , hII⫹,⫺
i are the normalized eigenmode func-

冉 冊
tions of the transverse electromagnetic fields of the ith
1 ␲ mode propagating in the forward or backward direc-
Ĥ y ⫽ ␥ Ê x ⫹ Ê z ⫹ ␻␬ Ĥ z , (20)
j ␻␮ a tions in the ferrite-filled waveguide ( Region II),
which are obtained in the previous section. A⫹i and

冉 冊
A⫺i are the incident and reflected mode amplitudes of
1 ␲
Ê y ⫽ ⫺␥Ĥx ⫹ Ĥz . (21) the ith mode in the air-filled waveguide, B⫹i and B⫺i
j␻␧ a are the mode amplitudes of the ith forward and back-
ward modes in the ferrite-filled waveguide.
By performing a thorough search of the solutions to Employing the cross-product integration 兰兰s (22)
the characteristic equation on the complex plane ␥ ⫽ ⫻ hIj • ds and 兰兰s eIj ⫻ (23) • ds for j ⫽ 1 to m and
␣ ⫹ j␤, all the propagating and complex modes [15] invoking the mode orthogonality [6], we get
can be obtained and the corresponding field compo-
nents can be solved completely. A ⫹ ⫹ A⫺ ⫽ Le⫹ B⫹ ⫹ Le⫺ B⫺ (24)

A ⫹ ⫺ A⫺ ⫽ Lh⫹ B⫹ ⫹ Lh⫺ B⫺ (25)

III. MODE-MATCHING ANALYSIS OF where A⫹,⫺,B⫹,⫺ are m ⫻ 1 vectors, Le⫹,⫺,Lh⫹,⫺ are

WAVEGUIDE DISCONTINUITIES m ⫻ m matrices, whose elements are defined as

冕冕
Figure 2 depicts the geometry of a rectangular
waveguide loaded with a section of H-plane ferrite l e⫹,⫺
⫹,⫺
i, j ⫽ e IIi ⫻ h Ij ds, (26)
slab. As shown in Figure 2, there are two junctions
s
involved in the geometry: one at z ⫽ 0, the other
located at z ⫽ ⫺l. Consider the junction at the z ⫽ 0
plane first. Matching the transverse field components
in Regions I and II at z ⫽ 0 [13], we obtain l h⫹,⫺
i, j ⫽ 冕冕
s
e Ii ⫻ h II⫹,⫺
j ds. (27)

冘 共A 冘 共B e
m m
⫹
Since all the field components have the form of eqs.
i ⫹ A⫺
i 兲ei ⫽
I⫹ ⫹ II⫹
i i ⫹ B⫺
i ei 兲,
II⫺
(4) and (5), the two-dimensional integral can be sim-
i⫽1 i⫽1
plified to be a one-dimensional integral. Utilizing a
(22) simple integration equation,
 Analysis of Ferrite-Loaded Discontinuities 263

Figure 3. Scattering parameters of the junction between an air-filled rectangular waveguide and a dielectric-slab-loaded
waveguide (a ⫽ 22.86 mm, b ⫽ 10.16 mm, t ⫽ 3 mm, ␧r ⫽ 4).

冕a
b
c 1e ␭1y 䡠 c 2e ␭2yd y
known generalized scattering matrix technique [16].
The junction between two ferrite-loaded waveguides
can also be treated as a cascading connection of two

再
of the above structure, where the length of the air-
c 1c 2 filled waveguide section is zero in order to avoid
共e 共␭1⫹␭2兲b ⫺ e 共␭1⫹␭2兲a兲 ␭ 1 ⫽ ⫺␭2
⫽ ␭1 ⫹ ␭2 , (28) using the orthogonality relations in ferrite-filled
c1 c2 共b ⫺ a兲 ␭1 ⫽ ⫺␭2 waveguide.

Matrix elements le⫹,⫺i,j and lh⫹,⫺i,j in eqs. (26) and

(27) can be readily calculated.
The scattering matrix of this waveguide disconti- IV. NUMERICAL RESULTS
nuity can then be derived from eqs. (24) and (25) as
follows In order to verify the formulation described in the
previous sections and the written computer program,
S 21 ⫽ 2共Le⫹ ⫹ Lh⫹ 兲⫺1 , (29) we first consider a simple case of a single junction
between an air-filled rectangular waveguide and an
S 11 ⫽ 2 共Le⫹ ⫺ Lh⫹ 兲S21 ,
1
(30) H-plane dielectric-slab-loaded waveguide (dielectric
slab is a special ferrite material with H0 ⫽ Ms ⫽ 0).
Numerical results for the scattering parameters ob-
S 22 ⫽ ⫺共Le⫹ ⫹ Lh⫹ 兲⫺1 共Le⫺ ⫹ Lh⫺ 兲, (31) tained by our mode-matching method are compared
with those calculated by Ansoft’s HFSS, as shown in
S 12 ⫽ 2 关共Le⫹ ⫺ Lh⫹ 兲S22 ⫹ Le⫺ ⫺ Lh⫺ 兴.
1
(32) Figure 3. It can be seen that they are in excellent
agreement.
The scattering matrices of the second junction located The convergence behavior of our mode-matching
at z ⫽ ⫺l can be obtained in a similar way, and the method is examined in Table I, where the scattering
overall scattering matrix of the cascaded structure of parameters of the waveguide junction considered in
two discontinuities can be derived by using the well- Figure 3 are checked with different numbers of modes
264 Shan, Shen, and Teo

TABLE I. Convergence Behavior of the Scattering Figure 5 presents the scattering parameters of a
Parameters with Respect to the Number of Modes rectangular waveguide loaded with a section of H-
Considered in Both Waveguides (a ⴝ 22.86 mm, plane ferrite slab. The thickness of the ferrite slab is 1
b ⴝ 10.16 mm, t ⴝ 3 mm, ␧r ⴝ 4, f ⴝ 8 GHz) mm. It is noted that the scattering parameters fluctuate
Number of Eigenmodes 兩S 11 兩 兩S 21 兩 dramatically when the operating frequency ap-
3 0.1928 0.9737
proaches the ferrimagnetic resonant frequency of 9.18
5 0.1891 0.9735 GHz. We also see that our mode-matching results
10 0.1884 0.9818 agree well with those obtained by HFSS.
20 0.1888 0.9819 Figure 6 shows the variation of the scattering pa-
30 0.1884 0.9821 rameters of an H-plane ferrite-slab-loaded waveguide
50 0.1884 0.9821 with respect to the biasing magnetic field H0. It is seen
that the applied magnetic field can noticeably tune the
reflection and transmission coefficients, like the case
retained. It should be pointed out that an equal num- of an E-plane ferrite-slab-loaded waveguide. This
ber of modes is assumed in both the air-filled and the suggests that tunable components such as filters,
dielectric-loaded waveguides. It is seen from Table I phase shifters, and steerable waveguide slot antenna
that convergent results can be obtained when the arrays can also be realized using an H-plane ferrite-
number of eigenmodes considered is greater than 10. slab-loaded waveguide.
Figure 4 presents the scattering parameters of a A 90° nonreciprocal differential phase shifters is
rectangular waveguide loaded with a section of H- designed to demonstrate the usage of an H-plane
plane dielectric slab. A section of Lucite (␧r ⫽ 2.7, ferrite loaded waveguide, as shown in Figure 7. The
tan␦ ⫽ 0.005) is constructed and placed into a hollow ferrite slab is placed at the bottom broad-wall of the
X-band rectangular waveguide. Experimental data for rectangular waveguide with only one-step dielectric
the scattering parameters are obtained to verify our impedance transformers at both ends of it. The ferrite
calculation. It can be seen that our mode-matching material is TTVG-1200 (4␲Ms ⫽ 1200Gauss, ⌬H ⫽
results agree very well with the experimental results. 10Oe) and the dielectric constant ␧r of the impedance

Figure 4. Scattering parameters of a dielectric-slab-loaded waveguide over a frequency range of 8 –12 GHz (a ⫽ 22.86 mm,
b ⫽ 10.16 mm, t ⫽ 6.7 mm, l ⫽ 24.4 mm, ␧r ⫽ 2.7, tan ␦ ⫽ 0.005).
 Analysis of Ferrite-Loaded Discontinuities 265

Figure 5. Scattering parameters of a ferrite-slab-loaded waveguide (a ⫽ 22.86 mm, b ⫽ 10.16 mm, t ⫽ 1 mm, l ⫽ 60 mm,
␧r ⫽ 14, 4␲Ms ⫽ 1800Gauss, H0 ⫽ 2500Oe).

Figure 6. Variation of scattering parameters of a ferrite-slab-loaded waveguide with respect to the biasing magnetic field H0
(a ⫽ 22.86 mm, b ⫽ 10.16 mm, t ⫽ 1 mm, l ⫽ 60 mm, ␧r ⫽ 14, 4␲Ms ⫽ 1800Gauss, f ⫽ 7.5 GHz).
Figure 7. Optimized compact nonreciprocal phase shifter with one–step dielectric impedance transformers at both ends
(H0 ⫽ 2700Oe, a ⫽ 15.799 mm, b ⫽ 7.899 mm, W1 ⫽ 1.6 mm, L1 ⫽ 23.1 mm, W2 ⫽ 1.15 mm, L2 ⫽ 10.8 mm, ␧r ⫽ 14.4,
tan ␦ ⫽ 0.0002).
 Analysis of Ferrite-Loaded Discontinuities 267

TABLE II. Comparison of Computation Time Between the Mode-Matching Method and HFSS
Mode-Matching Method HFSS
Calculating propagation constants at a
single frequency (12.8 GHz) 0:01:09 Initial mesh 0:00:01
Finding propagation constants at other
50 frequencies 0:00:43 Lambda refinement 0:01:41
Solving the discontinuity at 51 Adaptive pass 1 to adaptive pass 7 at a single
frequencies 0:01:41 frequency (12.8 GHz) 0:29:40
Completing the cascading connection
at 51 frequencies 0:00:03 Discrete sweep at other 20 frequencies 2:03:11
Total CPU time 0:03:16 2:34:33

transformers is chosen to be the same as that of the pre-calculated and therefore the total computation
ferrite material (␧r ⫽ 14.4, tan␦ ⫽ 0.002). The dimen- time can be greatly reduced. When we optimize the
sion of the ferrite slab is 23.1 mm ⫻ 15.799 mm ⫻ geometrical parameters L1 and L2, we only need to
1.6 mm and the impedance transformers are of dimen- carry out the cascading connection of discontinuities
sion 10.8 mm ⫻ 15.799 mm ⫻ 1.15 mm. Figure 7(a) and it only takes 3 sec to obtain the scattering param-
presents the frequency dependency of the differential eters at 51 frequency points. This high efficiency
phase shift and Figure 7(b) shows the frequency vari- property of the mode-matching analysis allows us to
ation of the input reflection coefficient. It can be seen carry out the optimization of the phase shifter de-
in Figure 7 that about 2° phase error and better than scribed in Figure 7.
30-dB input reflection is obtained within a bandwidth
of about 5%. Compared to the theoretical results for
an E-plane nonreciprocal phase shifter designed in V. CONCLUSION
[13], where the 30-dB input return loss bandwidth is
about 3% and two-step dielectric impedance trans- A rectangular waveguide loaded with H-plane ferrite
formers were used in that design, wider return loss slabs has been considered in this article. The field
bandwidth is achieved (⬎5%) in our design. More components and the propagation constants of all the
importantly, our design is more compact (overall possible modes have been solved by means of a
length is 44.7 mm, compared to 58.6 mm used in matrix formulation. The mode-matching method has
[13]). In Figure 7, our mode-matching results are been successfully used to obtain the scattering param-
compared with those obtained by Ansoft’s HFSS and eters of the discontinuity between an air-filled
excellent agreement is observed. waveguide and an H-plane ferrite-slab-loaded
It should be mentioned that the presented mode- waveguide. Good agreement is observed between our
matching method is very computationally efficient, mode-matching results and those simulated by An-
compared to HFSS, which uses the FEM. The com- soft’s HFSS and experimental data.
putation time for obtaining the data in Figure 7 by our A 90° nonreciprocal differential phase shifter is
mode-matching method and the CPU time required by designed using an H-plane ferrite-slab-loaded
HFSS are compared in Table 2. The number of com- waveguide. Good performances have been achieved.
plex modes used in the mode-matching analysis is 25. Clearly, H-plane ferrite-slab-loaded waveguides are
In the HFSS simulation, the adaptive pass is set to be useful in nonreciprocal differential phase shifter ap-
seven and a 20-point discrete frequency sweep is used plications and other applications in tunable filters can
to obtain the results in Figure 7, since HFSS does not also be realized. They also have the potential to im-
provide fast sweep for ferrite materials. It can be seen plement the scanning/tuning ability in broad-wall
from Table 2 that the total computation time of the waveguide slot antenna arrays.
mode-matching method is 196 sec to obtain the scat-
tering parameters at 51 frequencies and it takes HFSS
more than two h on the same computer to compute the REFERENCES
scattering parameters at 21 frequency points. It should
be pointed out that when we optimize the phase shifter 1. P.H. Vartanian, W.P. Ayres and A.L. Helgesson, Prop-
using our mode-matching method, many intermediate agation in dielectric slab loaded rectangular waveguide,
results could be saved and reused. The propagation IRE Trans Microwave Theory Techn MTT-6 (1958),
constants for different ferrite slab thicknesses can be 215–222.
268 Shan, Shen, and Teo

2. R. Seckelmann, Propagation of TE modes in dielectric rial, IEEE Trans Microwave Theory Techn MTT-18
loaded waveguides, IEEE Trans Microwave Theory (1970), 400 – 402.
Techn MTT-14 (1966), 518 –527. 11. K.C. O’Brien, Microwave properties of slabs of uni-
3. N. Eberhardt, Propagation in the off center E-plane formly magnetized material filling the cross-section of
dielectrically loaded waveguide, IEEE Trans Micro- a rectangular waveguide operating in TEn0 modes,
wave Theory Techn MTT-15 (1967), 282–289. IEEE Trans Microwave Theory Techn MTT-18 (1970),
4. F.E. Gardiol, Higher-Order modes in dielectrically 377–382.
loaded rectangular waveguides, IEEE Trans Microwave 12. T.A. Enegren and M.M.Z. Kharadly, Transverse dis-
Theory Techn MTT-16 (1968), 919 –924. continuities in nonreciprocal waveguides, IEEE Trans
5. F.E. Gardiol, Circularly polarized electric field in rect- Microwave Theory Techn MTT-28 (1980), 609 – 615.
angular waveguide, IEEE Trans Microwave Theory
13. J. Uher, F. Arndt, and J. Bornemann, Field theory
Techn 563–565, May (1974).
design of ferrite-loaded waveguide nonreciprocal phase
6. R.E. Collin, Field theory of guided waves, McGraw
shifters with multisection ferrite or dielectric slab im-
Hill, New York, 1960.
pedance transformers, IEEE Trans Microwave Theory
7. L.Z. Zhou and L.E. Davis, Finite-element method with
edge elements for waveguides loaded with ferrite mag- Techn MTT-35 (1987), 552–560.
netized in arbitrary direction, IEEE Trans Microwave 14. F.E. Gardiol, Anisotropic slabs in rectangular
Theory Techn MTT-44 (1996), 809 – 815. waveguides, IEEE Trans Microwave Theory Techn
8. S.N. Stitzer, Finite element modeling of ferrite phase MTT-18, (1970), 461– 467.
shifters, IEEE MTT-S Dig, 1996, pp. 125–128. 15. A.S. Omar and K.F. Schunemann, Complex and back-
9. A.D. Bresler, On the discontinuity problem at the input ward-wave modes in the inhomogeneously and aniso-
to an anisotropic waveguide, IRE Trans Antennas tropically filled waveguides, IEEE Trans Microwave
Propagat AP-7 (1959), 261–272. Theory Tech MTT-35 (1987), 268 –275.
10. K.C. O’Brien, Microwave properties of a rectangular 16. R. Mittra and S.W. Lee, Analytical techniques in the
waveguide semi-infinitely filled with magnetic mate- theory of guided waves, Macmillan, New York, 1971.

BIOGRAPHIES

Xiaoyong Shan received his B.E. degree in Post-doctoral Fellow in the Gordon McKay Laboratory at Harvard
physical electronics from Zhejiang Univer- University, and in the Radiation Laboratory at the University of
sity, China, in 1991, and his M.E. degree in Michigan, respectively, in 1998. His research interests are in anal-
electrical engineering from Nanyang Tech- ysis and design of microwave/millimeter-wave passive components
nological University, Singapore, 2002. He is and small and planar antennas for wireless communications. Dr.
currently working as a Project Officer in the Shen has authored over 80 papers. He is a member of the IEEE,
School of Electrical and Electronic Engi- International Compumag Society and New York Academy of Sci-
neering, Nanyang Technological University, ences.
Singapore. His current research interests are
in the area of the analysis of anisotropic waveguide structures,
design and analysis of slot antennas, and design of electrically Peng-Thian Teo was born in Singapore. He
scanned antennas. received his B.Eng (Hons.) in Electrical and
Electronics Engineering from the University
Zhongxiang Shen is currently an Assistant of Bradford, England, in 1997. He has been
Professor in the School of Electrical and a Member of Technical Staff with DSO Na-
Electronic Engineering at Nanyang Techno- tional Labs, Singapore, since 1997. From
logical University, Singapore. He received January 1999 to May 2000, he was a visiting
his Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering research scholar with the Department of En-
from the University of Waterloo, Ontario, gineering Science and Mechanics, Pennsyl-
Canada, in 1997. He was an Advanced Mem- vania State University. His research interests include antennas,
ber of Technical Staff at COM DEV Ltd., characterization and application of ferroelectric materials for mi-
Cambridge, Canada in 1997. He worked as a crowave devices, and phased array applications.