LECTURE 1

MICROWAVE FREQUENCIES & APPLICATION OF MICROWAVE

MICROWAVE FREQUENCIES
The term Microwave frequencies is used for those wavelengths that are measured in centimeters (roughly from 30cm to 1mm or 1 to 300GHz)

 Microwave frequencies are limited up to infrared and visible light regions. (as shown in figure)

U.S. MILITARY MICROWAVE BAND

DESIGNATION P BAND L BAND S BAND C BAND X BAND K BAND Q BAND V BAND FREQUENCY RANGE IN GHz 0.225 0.390 0.390 1.550 1.550 3.900 3.900 6.200 6.200 10.900 10.900 36.000 36.000 46.000 46.000 56.000

W BAND

56.000 100.000

U.S. NEW MILITARY MICROWAVE BAND

DESIGNATION FREQUENCY RANGE IN GHz A BAND B BAND C BAND 0.100 0.250 0.250 0.500 0.500 1.000 DESIGNATION J BAND K BAND L BAND FREQUENCY RANGE IN GHz 10.000 20.000 20.000 40.000 40.000 60.000

D BAND
E BAND F BAND G BAND H BAND I BAND

1.000 2.000
2.000 3.000 3.000 4.000 4.000 6.000 6.000 8.000 8.000 10.000

M BAND

60.000 100.000

IEEE MICROWAVE FREQUENCY BAND

DESIGNATION HF VHF UHF L BAND S BAND C BAND X BAND Ku BAND K BAND Ka BAND Millimeter Submillimeter FREQUENCY RANGE IN GHz 0.003 0.030 0.030 0.300 0.300 1.000 1.000 2.000 2.000 4.000 4.000 8.000 8.000 12.000 12.000 18.000 18.000 27.000 27.000 40.000 40.000 300.000 > 300.000

ADVANTAGES OF MICROWAVE
1) Increased Bandwidth Availability: The frequency range of information channels will be a small percentage of the carrier frequency and more information can be transmitted in microwave frequency ranges.
So, microwave are preferred in long distance communication applications such as Telephone networks, TV network, Space communication, Telemetry, Defence, Railways etc.

ADVANTAGES OF MICROWAVE
2) Improved directive properties: Frequency increases as directivity increases & beamwidth decreases. Hence, beamwidth of radiation is proportional to /D. So at microwave frequencies, the antenna size of several wavelength lead to smaller beamwidths. Thus microwave frequencies possess quasi-optical properties

For example, For parabolic antenna, B = 140/(D/) where, D = diameter of antenna in cm = wavelength in cm B = beamwidth in degrees. At 30 GHz (= 1cm) for 1 beamwidth, D = (140/B)X = 140 cm

At 300 MHz, =100cm for 1 beamwidth, D = 140m

Also, as frequency increases, decreases , Hence power radiated & Gain increases. P=2I02(I/)2 As Gain increases, directive antennas can be designed and fabricated more easily at microwave frequencies, which is highly impractical at low frequencies.

3) Fading effect and reliability: Fading effect due to variation in the transmission medium is more effective at low frequency. Due to line of sight propagation and high frequencies, there is less fading effect. 4)Power requirement: transmitter and receiver power requirement is pretty low at microwave frequencies compared to that at short wave band. 5) Transparency property of microwave: Microwave frequency band ranging from 300MHz -10 GHz are capable of freely propagating through the ionized layers surrounding the earth as well as through the atmosphere. It also make duplex communication and exchange of information between ground stations and space vehicles.

APPLICATIONS OF MICROWAVE
Telecommunication: long distance communication (earth to space and space to earth). Radars: detect aircraft, track/guide supersonic missiles, observe and track weather patterns, air traffic control, police speed detectors etc. Commercial and industrial applications: Microwave oven(2.45 GHz,600 W) Drying machine (textile, food, paper industry) Rubber industry/plastic/chemical/forest product industries. Food processing industry: precooling , cooking, pasteurizing ,frozen /refrigerated precooled meats, roasting of food grains. Biomedical applications: deep electromagnetic heating for cancer treatment , electromagnetic transmission through human body has been used for monitoring for heart beat , lung water detection.

Limitations of conventional tubes at microwave frequencies

IEC(Inter Electrode Capacitance) effect LEAD INDUCTANCE TRANSIT TIME IEC(Inter Electrode Capacitance) effect and Lead inductance effect. Gain bandwidth limitation Effect due to RF losses.

IEC(Inter Electrode Capacitance) effect

a 1-picofarad capacitor has a reactance of 159,000 ohms at 1 megahertz. If this capacitor was the inter-electrode capacitance between the grid and plate of a tube, and the rf voltage between these electrodes was 500 volts, then 3.15 milliamperes of current would flow through the interelectrode capacitance. Current flow in this small amount would not seriously affect circuit performance. On the other hand, at a frequency of 100 megahertz the reactance would decrease to approximately 1,590 ohms and, with the same voltage applied, current would increase to 315 milliamperes ,Current in this amount would definitely affect circuit performance

IEC(Inter Electrode Capacitance) effect

Fig a:Interelectrode capacitance in a vacuum tube. 1 MEGAHERTZ

Fig b:Interelectrode capacitance in a vacuum tube. INTERELECTRODE CAPACITANCE IN A TUNED-PLATE TUNED-GRID OSCILLATOR.

Fig a:Interelectrode capacitance in a vacuum tube. 100 MEGAHERTZ

IEC(Inter Electrode Capacitance) effect

A good point to remember is that the higher the frequency, or the larger the inter-electrode capacitance, the higher will be the current through this capacitance As the frequency of the input signal increases, the effective grid-to-cathode impedance of the tube decreases because of a decrease in the reactance of the inter-electrode capacitance (Xc=1/2f C). If the signal frequency is 100 megahertz or greater, the reactance of the grid-to-cathode capacitance is so small that much of the signal is short-circuited within the tube. Since the inter-electrode capacitances are effectively in parallel with the tuned circuits they will also affect the frequency at which the tuned circuits resonate.

LEAD INDUCTANCE
Since the lead inductances within a tube are effectively in parallel with the inter-electrode capacitance, the net effect is to raise the frequency limit. XL=2FL as frequency increases ,reactance increases hence voltage appearing at the active electrode are less than the voltage at the base pin. This result in reduced gain for tube amplifier. However, the inductance of the cathode lead is common to both the grid and plate circuits. This provides a path for degenerative feedback which reduces overall circuit efficiency Remedy: decrease L,As L is proportional to reactance XL=2FL thus L decreases, if A increases and l decreases(L=l/A)

TRANSIT TIME
Transit time is the time required for electrons to travel from the cathode to the plate. While some small amount of transit time is required for electrons to travel from the cathode to the plate, In fact, the transit time is so insignificant at low frequencies that it is generally not considered to be a hindering factor. However, at high frequencies, transit time becomes an appreciable portion of a signal cycle and begins to hinder efficiency. For example, a transit time of 1 nanosecond, which is not unusual, is only 0.001 cycle at a frequency of 1 megahertz. The same transit time becomes equal to the time required for an entire cycle at 1,000 megahertz. Transit time depends on electrode spacing and existing voltage potentials. Transit times in excess of 0.1 cycle cause a significant decrease in tube efficiency. This decrease in efficiency is caused, in part, by a phase shift between plate current and grid voltage

TRANSIT TIME
If the tube is to operate efficiently, the plate current must be in phase with the grid-signal voltage and 180 degrees out of phase with the plate voltage. When transit time approaches 1/4 cycle, this phase relationship between the elements does not hold true. A positive swing of a high-frequency grid signal causes electrons to leave the cathode and flow to the plate. Initially this current is in phase with the grid voltage. However, since transit time is an appreciable part of a cycle, the current arriving at the plate now lags the grid-signal voltage. As a result, the power output of the tube decreases and the plate power dissipation increases.