Theoretical and Experimental Results of Substrate Effects on Microstrip Power Divider Designs

The effects of substrate materials on the design of microstrip power divider are investigated theoretically and experimentally. Three dielectric substrate materials, Duroid 3003, G10/FR4 epoxy Glass, and Duroid 3010, are chosen to be studied. A three-way two-stage power divider is designed at S-band frequency of 2.25 GHz and etched on each studied substrate separately. The substrate effects on the characteristics and performance of the microsrip circuits are studied taking into consideration the large difference in dielectric constant and the dissipation factor. The circuit designs presented here are analyzed using the Genesys CAD program and implemented and tested experimentally. The simulated and measured results are compared and discussed, and they indicate that significant changes in the characteristics of the microstrip power divider are observed.