In the field of integrated photonics, the emerging application of molecular materials to the integrated photonics led to the definition of the silicon organic hybrid (SOH) technology, that represents a solution to bring new functionalities to the intrinsically passive Silicon photonics. Slot waveguide structures enable SOH for light confinement and guiding into the dielectric slot between two silicon rails, even if exhibiting a lower refractive index than silicon. Erbium-doped molecular materials that show electroluminescence besides to traditional photoluminescence from optical pumping, may provide an interesting solution for processing of electrically-supplied IR emitting blocks in a silicon photonic integrated circuits (PICs). Among the erbium-doped molecular materials, erbium quinolines (ErQ) were already used to demonstrate IR electroluminescence, solution processing and very preliminary IR lasing on Silicon substrates. To optimize the design of the ErQ-coated slot waveguide in terms of optical confinement factor for input wavelength set at 1550 nm, the Wave Optics Module of COMSOL Multiphysics® 5.4 was used. The design parameters of the slot waveguide shown in Figure 1, i.e. silicon rail width and slot width, were optimized, whereas the rail thickness is considered imposed by the commercially available silicon on insulator (SOI) substrates, having 260 nm thickness. The results of the optimization led to the nano-fabrication of the ErQcoated slot waveguide that is currently under optical characterization.
3D Wave Propagation in Silicon Waveguide with Rib and Slot Configurations Application ID: 70551 A 3D silicon waveguide is set up with rib and slot configurations. The meshing includes physics-controlled mesh, with the number of longitudinal mesh elements set to 50 to visualize the wave oscillation. Slot Waveguide Comsol that you:. are at least 18 years of age and above the legal age for gambling in the jurisdiction you are a resident;. are legally capable of entering into binding contracts. Unlike previously demonstrated waveguide polarization rotators, our approach relies on the adiabatic mode evolution in a single horizontal slot-waveguide, which results in a simple design and one-mask fabrication process.The structure is designed to rotate the TM-polarized input by 90 degree while be transparent with the TE-polarized input.
Waveguides COMSOL Blog RF Module Updates - COMSOL® 5.5 Release Highlights Quick Intro to Modeling RF and Microwave Heating COMSOL Blog mode analysis of a waveguide - comsol.nl COMSOL Multiphysics® Modeling Software RF Module Updates - COMSOL® 5.3a Release Highlights Coaxial to Waveguide Coupling - COMSOL Multiphysics® Slot Waveguide.

Transmission lines are used to propagate energy for the communication of a signal from input to output ports. Examples include waveguides, coaxial lines, planar transmission lines, microstrip lines, coplanar waveguide lines, and slot lines. For the successful deployment of microwave systems, engineers use various types of transmission lines where the electromagnetic wave is coupled from one type of transmission line into another through appropriate transitions. These transitions should have low transmission and reflection losses.
The different types of transitions that are frequently used in microwave circuit design are discussed in this blog post as follows:
Waveguides are a suitable candidate for handling high-power and low-loss transmission, but they are also bulky and expensive. Planar transmission lines, such as microstrip lines, have gained popularity in the microwave field because of their compact size and ease of integration with transistors and diodes to form microwave-integrated circuits (MICs). For these reasons, a transition between a waveguide to a planar transmission line is suitable for many types of microwave systems.
Waveguide to planar transmission line transitions can be broadly classified into three types:
Considering the third type of transition, the waveguide to microstrip line transition model is discussed in detail. In this model, a standard WR10 waveguide is used, and transition from the waveguide to the microstrip line is achieved by using the longitudinal probe (also known as the E-plane probe) transverse to the propagation direction of the wave. The longitudinal probe is inserted from broader sidewalls of the waveguide, where the surface of the substrate aligns along the direction of propagation of the waveguide (Ref. 1).
Back-to-back transition of the waveguide to microstrip line transition model.
In this model, the microstrip line is designed along with a quarter-wave transformer to match the impedance to 50 [ohm] on a RT/duroid® 6010LM laminate substrate, which is available in the RF Module material library of the COMSOL Multiphysics® software.
To easily set up the model experimentally, the design is extended to back-to-back transition. In this extended design, a 50 [ohm] microstrip line is converted back to the probe, which acts as a feeder for an adjacent WR10 waveguide. To account for losses at a higher frequency, appropriate boundary conditions are used. For example, the Impedance boundary condition (IBC) is used for the waveguide walls (suitable when the thickness of the conductor is larger than the skin depth) and the Transition boundary condition (TBC) is used for microstrip lines (suitable when the conductor thickness is comparable with the skin depth), which helps to make the numerical model close to an experimental setup. Another approach involves the use of a perfect electric conductor (PEC); however, the PEC is a lossless condition and hence is not used in this model.
It can be observed from the S-parameter plot that the reflection is below -15 dB in the entire band (75 GHz to 110 GHz), while maximum transmission loss is observed as 0.7 dB. A Smith plot for S11 revolves very closely around the center, which implies good matching. This kind of transition setup is relevant for the automotive industry, where radar technology is now shifting from the K-band to W-band because of several advantages, such as huge bandwidth, high resolution, and reduction in antenna size.
S-parameter response and Smith chart of S11 for the waveguide to microstrip line transition model.
The second transmission line transition we discuss in this blog post is a coaxial to waveguide transition. The coaxial line can be used as a feeder for the waveguide, as shown in the coaxial to waveguide model.
This model demonstrates a simple coaxial to waveguide transition using the RF Module and COMSOL Multiphysics. The incoming wave through the coaxial cable is set up using a Port boundary condition with a 1-W coaxial feed. At the passive output port, the fundamental rectangular TE10 mode is assumed. The Port boundary conditions are perfectly transparent only to their specified mode. These same modes are also used for quantifying the S-parameters automatically.
For such reasons, the modeled sections must be long enough so that the evanescent waves almost completely die out before they reach the ports. This leaves us only with the propagating modes at 6 GHz, the only supported propagating mode (i.e., the fundamental mode). In this case, to account for the losses, the Impedance boundary condition with the material property for copper is used for the coaxial conductors and metal surfaces of the waveguide.

Coaxial to waveguide coupling with E-field distribution.
An elliptical waveguide can be deployed in microwave backhaul due to its optimal performance and minimum field errors. Bending or flaring devices are typically formed by converting a traditional rectangular waveguide into an elliptical waveguide. Such devices are designed in such a way that energy losses due to reflections are minimum for the operating frequencies.
For example, in the Waveguide Adapter model, microwave propagation in the transition between a rectangular waveguide and an elliptical waveguide is analyzed. To investigate the characteristics of the adapter, this example includes a wave traveling from a rectangular waveguide through the adapter and into an elliptical waveguide. The S-parameters are calculated as functions of the frequency. The involved frequencies are all in the single-mode range of the waveguide; that is, the frequency range where only one mode is propagating in the waveguide.
Isosurface plot of the x-component of the electric field in a rectangular to elliptical waveguide transition.
Transmission line transitions are frequently used and should have low reflection losses and low transmission losses. At higher frequencies and due to the finite conductivity of metal used in the transmission line, the skin effect, which is responsible for the transmission loss, becomes predominant. To account for this loss, boundary conditions such as IBC and TBC can be used appropriately, with minimum computational cost, while reflection losses can be minimized by impedance matching.
Try modeling a transition line transition in COMSOL Multiphysics by checking out the three tutorial models discussed in this blog post:
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