AFSIW Power Divider with Isolated Outputs Based on Balanced-Delta-Port Magic-Tee Topology

In this paper, the design flexibility of multilayer air-filled substrate integrated waveguide (AFSIW) technology is examined and exploited to introduce a -3 dB power divider with isolated outputs based on a balanced-delta-port magic-tee topology. To overcome the inherent poor isolation provided by lossless three-port junctions, discrete resistors are implemented using the low-cost and standard surface mount device (SMD) process and commercially available off-the-shelf components (COTS). Theoretical, simulated, and experimental results of the proposed self-packaged wideband power divider with isolated outputs are presented. To the authors' best knowledge, this is the first time that an AFSIW integrating surface mounted components is reported. The measured results show that the output return loss and isolation are better than 10 dB over 28% bandwidth (centered at 35 GHz). A maximum amplitude imbalance of 0.69 dB together with a maximum phase imbalance of 4.2° are obtained in measurements. This proposed divider is envisioned by the authors to be deployed in system on substrate (SoS) for many wireless applications where low loss and high power handling capability are desired such as antenna beamforming networks and amplifier modules.