On the equivalence between cylindrical and rectangular via-holes in electromagnetic modeling

In the em simulation of MMICs and packages it is often advantageous to use vias with rectangular cross-section instead of cicular ones, because this allows for more efficient meshing thus reducing numerical expense. This paper provides detailed results on how the dimensions should be chosen to achieve equivalent electrical behavior. The investigations show that, if the rectangular via is chosen properly, the deviations in electrical behavior compared to the cylindrical version remain very low over a broad bandwidth of frequencies.