Characterization of microstrip lines near a substrate edge and design formulas of edge-compensated microstrip lines (MMICs)

The proximity effects of microstrip lines near a substrate´s edge present a problem for effectively designing high-packing-density MMICs (monolithic microwave integrated circuits). Proximity effects of this type are analyzed using the rectangular boundary division method. It is assumed that the cross-sectional dimensions of transmission lines in the MMICs are small compared with the wavelengths to allow the use of the quasi-TEM-wave approximation. Then, the concept of edge-compensated microstrip lines to keep the characteristic impedance constant near a substrate edge is introduced to circumvent the proximity effects and to expand the interconnection flexibility of microstrip lines on MMIC substrates. The practical design parameters of edge-compensated 50- Omega microstrip lines are given in the form of numerical data and simple polynomials for CASD (computer-aided design) work with a curve-fitting procedure. Results of capacitance measurements are compared with this theory with errors of about 1% resulting.<>