A Compact In-Line Waveguide-to-Microstrip Transition in the Q-Band for Radio Astronomy Applications

M. Simone;A. Fanti;G. Valente;G. Montisci

;R. Ghiani;G. Mazzarella

2018-01-01

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Abstract

A microstrip-to-waveguide transition has been realized for radio astronomy applications, designed to operate in the Q-band (33–50 GHz). As part of an array radio frequency (RF) receiver, the main requirement of such a transition is the reduction of transverse space occupation for the integration in the entire receiver chain, so an in-line configuration has been developed. Moreover, the high frequency band implies that an easy fabrication is a critical requirement if a good match between the two guiding structures is to be obtained in the desired band (with a relative bandwidth of 40%). The combination of CAD software and an optimization tool allows the device to achieve a good return loss over the entire band.