Extensions to the Contour Integral Method for Efficient Modeling of Digital Interconnects, Planar Microwave Circuits and Planar Photonic Crystals

Jan Preibisch

Institute of Electromagnetic Theory, Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), Germany

Abstract:

Planar wave propagation is a phenomenon which occurs in various fields of application in engineering electromagnetics. Planar circuits are commonly used in microwave engineering in form of microstrip lines and substrate integrated waveguides (SIW); in optics, planar integrated optical circuits and 2-D photonic crystals employ 2-D wave propagation; moreover, most issues of power and signal integrity (SI/PI) of high speed digital interconnects are determined by 2-D waves propagating between the metal planes of printed circuit boards (PCB) or within the layers of an interposer. Modeling techniques that make use of the two-dimensionality, can substantially reduce the computational effort and provide an insight into the underlying physics.

The contour integral method (CIM) was proposed by T. Okoshi in the 1980's for the efficient modeling of planar microwave circuits. The method casts the 2-D wave equation in frequency domain into an electric field integral equation where the unknowns are the electric and magnetic field on the bounding contours. Inherently, it assumes that only the fundamental TM mode is propagating. For convenience, microwave ports are defined on boundary segments. Recently, the method has been expanded by introducing circular ports which can describe cylindrical boundaries and their interaction analytically. This improves the accuracy as well as it reduces the computational complexity because vias can now be described by just one unknown. To achieve higher accuracy at increasing frequencies higher order circular modes are taken into consideration. Furthermore, analytical expressions for the inclusion of cylindrical dielectric inclusions, as they occur in photonic crystals and electromagnetic band gap structures, have been derived.

This seminar will provide an overview over the recent developments on the CIM to enhance computational efficiency, accuracy as well as applicability and enlightens the applicability in the areas of microwave engineering, SI/PI, and optics. Furthermore, it provides an overview of the results obtained in the three areas of application, open challenges, and approaches to include uncertainty into the modeling.

Biography:

Jan Preibisch received the M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), Germany, in January 2013 and the Master of Technology Management from Northern Institute of Technology, in Hamburg, Germany, in November 2012. Since February 2013, he is working at the Institute of Electromagnetic Theory at TUHH in the group of Prof. Schuster. In September 2014, he joined the group of Prof. Triverio as a visiting PhD Student. His research interests are efficient methods for the simulation of 2-D wave propagation with application to SI/PI of digital interconnects, microwave circuits and planar optics.