Studies on passive intermodulation phenomena in printed and layered transmission lines

This paper reports on the recent developments into the investigation of passive intermodulation products (PIMs) in PCB based printed and layered transmission lines. Based on the results of earlier experiments, potential sources of PIM generation are examined, and a new semi-phenomenological model of PIM production mechanisms is discussed. The proposed model assumes non-local nature of PIM sources stochastically distributed along the path of high power microwave transmission. A consistent interpretation of the PIM measurements of printed circuits is proposed and further experiments are discussed.