Real-Time Spectrum Analysis in Microstrip Technology

We report on a time-domain analog to the spatial far-field Fraunhofer diffraction using microstrip lines with chirped distributed Bragg coupling between the fundamental microstrip mode and the same but counter-propagating mode. The chirping of the microstrip impedance yields to linear group delays within the reflected bandwidth. Under the condition of a temporal equivalent of the spatial Fraunhofer inequality, the distortion of a frequency-limited pulse results in an output reflected signal whose complex envelope is, except a phase factor, proportional to the Fourier Transform of the input pulse envelope. This has important temporal applications and, in particular, the devices designed in this paper work as real-time energy spectral density analyzers.