Planar dielectric waveguide and associated components for integrated circuits

Claim 2

A waveguide structure for propagating electromagnetic energy at frequencies corresponding to millimeter waves, sub-millimeter waves and extending to the optical frequency range, including in combination: a. a ground plane, b. a layer of dielectric material mounted on said ground plane substantially coextensive therewith, c. at least one metallic strip member mounted on said dielectric layer for confining energy propagation in said dielectric layer to regions beneath said strip member; and d. the thickness of said dielectric layer being at least 0.1 lambda 0 where lambda 0 is a wavelength of electromagnetic energy within the above frequency range, whereby the magnitude of the dominant electric field polarizing vector Ey varies as a function of two dimensions of said dielectric layer, insuring that electromagnetic waves undergo strong reflections at the open ends of said dielectric layer and trapping substantial amounts of energy in said dielectric layer beneath said metal strip.

Claim 3

The structure defined in claim 1 wherein the thickness of said layer is between 0.1 lambda 0 and 1.0 lambda 0.

Claim 4

A waveguide structure for propagating electromagnetic energy at frequencies betwEen 30 GHz and 106 GHz including, in combination: a. a ground plane, b. a substantially planar layer of dielectric material mounted on said ground plane and substantially coextensive therewith, c. at least one metallic member mounted on said dielectric layer for confining energy propagation in said dielectric layer to regions beneath said metallic member, and d. said dielectric layer being of at least a thickness equal to 0.1 lambda 0, where lambda 0 is a wavelength of electromagnetic energy within the above frequency range, whereby relatively thick dielectric layers may be utilized in forming said waveguide without the requirement for machining and etching dielectric strips of a predetermined cross section, and the regions in which electromagnetic energy is propagated within said dielectric layer is controlled by the width of said metallic member and is independent of the cross sectional area of said dielectric layer.

Claim 5

A waveguide structure for propagating electromagnetic energy at frequencies betwEen 30 GHz and 106 GHz including, in combination: a. a ground plane, b. a substantially planar layer of dielectric material mounted on said ground plane and substantially coextensive therewith, c. at least one metallic member mounted on said dielectric layer for confining energy propagation in said dielectric layer to regions beneath said metallic member, and d. said dielectric layer being of at least a thickness equal to 0.1 lambda 0, where lambda 0 is a wavelength of electromagnetic energy within the above frequency range, whereby relatively thick dielectric layers may be utilized in forming said waveguide without the requirement for machining and etching dielectric strips of a predetermined cross section, and the regions in which electromagnetic energy is propagated within said dielectric layer is controlled by the width of said metallic member and is independent of the cross sectional area of said dielectric layer.

Claim 6

The structure defined in claim 3 wherein the thickness of said dielectric layer is between about 0.1 lambda 0 and 1.0 lambda 0, whereby the dominant electromagnetic field polarizing vector, Ey, varies as a function of two dimensions of said dielectric layer.

Claim 7

A waveguide structure for propagating electromagnetic energy at frequencies between 30 GHz and 106 GHz including, in combination: a. a ground plane, b. a substantially planar layer of dielectric material mounted on said ground plane and substantially coextensive therewith, c. at least one metallic member mounted on said dielectric layer for confining energy propagation in said dielectric layer to regions beneath said metallic member, and d. said dielectric layer being of at least a thickness equal to 0.1 lambda 0, where lambda 0 is a wavelength of electromagnetic energy within the above frequency range.

Claim 8

A waveguide structure for propagating electromagnetic energy at frequencies between 30 GHz and 106 GHz including, in combination: a. a ground plane, b. a substantially planar layer of dielectric material mounted on said ground plane and substantially coextensive therewith, c. at least one metallic member mounted on said dielectric layer for confining energy propagation in said dielectric layer to regions beneath said metallic member, and d. said dielectric layer being of at least a thickness equal to 0.1 lambda 0, where lambda 0 is a wavelength of electromagnetic energy within the above frequency range.

Claim 9

In a waveguide structure for propagating electromagnetic energy in a layer of dielectric material mounted on a ground plane and being substantially coextensive therewith, and further having at least one metallic strip mounted atop said dielectric layer for confining energy propagation in said dielectric layer to regions beneath said strip, the improvement comprising said dielectric layer having a thickness at least equal to 0.1 lambda 0 where lambda 0 is a wavelength of electromagnetic energy within a range of frequencies corresponding to the millimeter wave, submillimeter wave and extending to the optical frequency range, whereby the magnitude of the dominant electric field polarizing vector Ey varies as a function of two dimensions of said dielectric layer, insuring that electromagnetic waves undergo strong reflections at the open ends of said dielectric layer and trapping substantial amounts of energy in said dielectric layer beneath said metal strip.

Claim 10

In a waveguide structure for propagating electromagnetic energy in a layer of dielectric material mounted on a ground plane and being substantially coextensive therewith, and further having at least one metallic strip mounted atop said dielectric layer for confining energy propagation in said dielectric layer to regions beneath said strip, the improvement comprising said dielectric layer having a thickness at least equal to 0.1 lambda 0 where lambda 0 is a wavelength of electromagnetic energy within a range of frequencies corresponding to the millimeter wave, submillimeter wave and extending to the optical frequency range, whereby the magnitude of the dominant electric field polarizing vector Ey varies as a function of two dimensions of said dielectric layer, insuring that electromagnetic waves undergo strong reflections at the open ends of said dielectric layer and trapping substantial amounts of energy in said dielectric layer beneath said metal strip.

Claim 11

The structure defined in claim 6 wherein the thickness of said dielectric layer is between about 0.1 lambda 0 and 1.0 lambda 0, whereby the dominant electromagnetic field polarizing vector, Ey, varies as a function of two dimensions of said dielectric layer.