High quality microstrip termination for MMIC and millimeter-wave applications

This paper presents the results of a development study of a high-quality termination for microstrip transmission line. The termination is made of a specially shaped resistive thin-film placed in the strip plane without any ground connection. The floating termination has a sheet resistance close to the transmission line characteristic impedance. An analytical model validated by a comparison to simulation data and scale model measurements at around 10 GHz is presented. This paper describes a guideline for designing of this type of termination that is very suitable for MMIC and millimeter-wave applications.