Umm Al-Qura University

Electrical Engineering Department

Electromagnetics (2)
8022320-4

Project:
Quarter Wave Transformer
Date of Submission: 12 Nov 2022

Written by:
Abdulrhman Makkawi 437002833
Abdulaziz Bashihab 438007157
Sultan Al-Johani 439008414
  Introduction
In this project we will make Quarter Wave Transformer, First let us know about Quarter
Wave Transformer, what is Quarter Wave Transformer?. A quarter-wave transformer is a
simple impedance transformer which is commonly used in impedance matching in order to
minimize the energy which is reflected when a transmission line is connected to a load, it
uses a transmission line with different characteristic impedance and with a length of one-
quarter of the guided-wavelength to match a line to a load, it is only works for purely real
load and it works at single frequency, Second The transmission line, what is transmission
line ? The line that is used to transmit electric power over long distances with high voltages,
for example co-axel cable , third microstrip filter , what is microstrip filter and how it
works? Microstrip is a type of electrical transmission line which can be fabricated with any
technology where a conductor is separated from a ground plane by a dielectric layer known
as the substrate , These filters are primarily used in wireless handsets, satellite receivers and
military systems.

 Quarter wave transformer theoretically

We want to design a quarter-wave transformer for matching 50 Ω microstrip line
terminated with a 150 Ω load in this project, so own we need to find the value of the
characteristic impedance of the quarter-wave transformer (𝑍′ ) and find the value of the
length of the line (Ɩ).

From project problem:

The input impedance (𝑍 ) = 𝑍 = 50 Ω
The load impedance (𝑍 ) = 150 Ω
The frequency for our team (ƒ) = 4 𝐺𝐻

𝑍 = → 𝑍′ = 𝑍 𝑍 = √50 × 150 = 86.6 Ω

×
𝜆 =ƒ= ×
= 7.5 cm = 75 mm
𝜆 = = = 56.19 mm
√ .
.
Ɩ= = = 14.04 mm
 Quarter wave transformer on CST Studio Suite software
First, we need to design a 50 Ω microstrip line terminated with a 150 Ω load.
For substrate we used:
 Material: RT/duroid 5880
 Dielectric Constant (𝜖 ) = 2.20
 The thickness of substrate h = 0.787 mm

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For transmission line we used:
 Material: Copper
 The thickness t = 0.035 mm
Now we can start by creating a new project template as shown next:

We select “Time Domain” and keep the default units.

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After that we set the frequency on range (1 𝐺𝐻 – 8 𝐺𝐻 ).

Now, after the home page open, we create the substrate from “modelling” → “brick”.
And for transmission line we need to calculate the width of the microstrip line from impedance
calculation then create it like substrate (for us the width = 2.38 mm).

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Then we create ground plane from “modelling” → “brick”, so the result for this steps we be as
showing now.

Now we gone to create waveguide port by select the face of transmission line from “pick face”
and click on “waveguide port” from simulation page.

Until now we just try to create a microstrip line termination but now we start to design a quarter
wave transformer and match it with the load.
To integrate the Microstrip line and quarter wave transformer, we must first determine the width
of the quarter wave line. To do this, from impedance calculation we try to find the value that
makes 𝑍′ equal 86.6 or closer to it (for us the width = 0.89 mm).
Then by selecting the Transmission line from the navigation tree, we go to "modeling," click on
Boolean, then select the quarter wave line from the navigation tree, and then press Enter

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We now want to add a lumped load to the quarter wave line by choosing the ground's face and
the quarter wave line's edge using the "pick edge" and "pick face" options, respectively. After
that, go to the navigation tree and select New Lumped Element from the context menu by right-
clicking on the Lumped elements. Change R's value to 150 cents, then click "OK."

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Finally, open the simulation page and select "Setup Solver" to launch CST's simulation.
After the simulation is finish, we can go to observe s-parameters from navigation tree.

As may be seen at 3.8 GHz, impedance match is accomplished by utilizing a quarter-wave

transformer
 Discussion
what happens if the operating frequency change?
That means the length of the quarter wave line will change because of the wavelength change
and we can describe the change between the operating frequency and the wavelength as an
inverse relationship, while the frequency increases the length will be decreased and we can find
that in the wavelength equation λ = .
ƒ

what happens if the thickness of the substrate change?

The bandwidth increases and the resonance decreases

what will be better using quarter-wave or open stub matching?

Using quarter-wave, because it use for real impedance matching , but the open stub matching
use for real and imaginary impedance, and we don’t have any imaginary impedance

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Assume the load is 25 Ω, explain what will happen to the λ/4 transformer?
What will happen is the width of the quarter-wave transformer will increase because 𝑍′ will
decrease as we can see in the equation 𝑍′ = 𝑍 𝑍 , and the length of the quarter-wave
transformer will decrease because the Effective Dielectric Constant (𝜖 ) will change and it
affected on guided wavelength (𝜆 = ).

 Summary
In this project we learn how to make Quarter Wave Transformer , microstrip and how it works ,
on CST .
1st we design a mircostrip
2nd we set the frequency
3rd calculate the width of the microstrip line
4th design a quarter wave transformer.
5th determine the width of the quarter wave line
6th integrate the Microstrip line and quarter wave transformer
7th selecting the Transmission line from the navigation tree
8th add a lumped load to the quarter wave line
9th open the simulation page and select "Setup Solver" to launch CST's simulation, see at 3.8
GHz, impedance match is accomplished by utilizing a quarter-wave transformer
Because of the approximation of the numbers, we had a problem and we could not reach the
frequency 4

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  Reference
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGqh8LWReEk

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUoB9mSGrKc

 https://eng.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Electrical_Engineering/Electro-
Optics/Book%3A_Electromagnetics_I_(Ellingson)/03%3A_Transmission_Lines/3.19%3
A_Quarter-Wavelength_Transmission_Line

 https://www.studocu.com/in/document/kalinga-institute-of-industrial-technology/rf-
communication-lab/manual-exp1-microwave-antenna-lab/17803359

 https://chemandy.com/calculators/microstrip-transmission-line-calculator-
hartley27.htm

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