Maciej Jasinski;Muhammad Yameen Sandhu;Adam Lamecki;Roberto Gómez-García;Michal Mrozowski
{"title":"Self-Equalized Generalized Chebyshev Microwave Filters in Inline Topology Using Double-Zero Single-Pole Frequency-Variant Coupling Networks","authors":"Maciej Jasinski;Muhammad Yameen Sandhu;Adam Lamecki;Roberto Gómez-García;Michal Mrozowski","doi":"10.1109/TMTT.2025.3558035","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/TMTT.2025.3558035","url":null,"abstract":"The objective of this article is to demonstrate the applicability of frequency-dependent couplings (FDCs) to the design of self-equalized, generalized Chebyshev microwave bandpass filters (BPFs) in inline coupled-resonator circuit topologies. To this aim, a family of frequency-variant reactive coupling (FVRC) networks with double-zero single-pole (DZSP) characteristics is exploited, where the zeros can be either positioned at the imaginary axis or as a pair of real zeros. Thus, flattened-group-delay sharp-rejection microwave BPFs with in-band equi-ripple-type response and close-to-passband transmission zeros (TZs) can be realized while avoiding more-complex cross-coupling structures. The theoretical foundations of the proposed class of DZSP FVRC networks for the flexible allocation of the two zeros in the complex plane, as well as different circuit variants for their implementation, are presented. Two design examples of self-equalized fifth-order microwave BPFs in lumped-element/transmission-line and 3-D technologies centered at 1.5 and 9.98 GHz, respectively, are also shown, in which different structures for the DZSP FVRC networks are adopted. In both BPF designs, their coupling-matrix-based-synthesis responses obtained from solving an inverse structured nonlinear eigenvalue problem and electromagnetically (EM)-simulated results are provided. Furthermore, for practical validation purposes, a proof-of-concept microstrip prototype of the first BPF design example is built and tested. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time that self-equalized, generalized Chebyshev microwave BPFs in inline schemes—i.e., without cross couplings—are experimentally verified.","PeriodicalId":13272,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques","volume":"73 9","pages":"6668-6680"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145073384","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yang Wang;Shiqiang Fu;Xiaoshi Han;Husheng Chen;Zhixia Xu;Ferran Martín
{"title":"High-Sensitivity Integrated Oscillator-Based Differential Microfluidic Sensor","authors":"Yang Wang;Shiqiang Fu;Xiaoshi Han;Husheng Chen;Zhixia Xu;Ferran Martín","doi":"10.1109/TMTT.2025.3558920","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/TMTT.2025.3558920","url":null,"abstract":"This article presents a compact, high-sensitivity oscillator-based differential sensor, incorporating active circuits and a passive sensing network with interdigital capacitors (IDCs) and traveling-wave loop-directional filter for the first time. The IDC enables the electric field to be concentrated within a narrow area, facilitating micro liquid sensing with high sensitivity. Additionally, it also acts as a frequency selection network (FSN) for oscillator to enhance detection accuracy. The filter’s excellent matching, isolation, and distinctive pass/stop characteristics outside the resonant frequency contribute to differential sensing. The oscillation frequency of the microfluidic test channel varies with liquid’s permittivity, providing accurate differential sensing after mixing with the fixed reference channel frequency. Then the relationship between the liquid’s permittivity and differential frequency was established through curve fitting. Evaluation with a water-ethanol mixture demonstrates the sensor’s high sensitivity and error mitigation capabilities. In oscillator cases, the average sensitivity is 0.13% with a maximum error of 2.16%. Due to its differential structure, compact size, and high sensitivity, the proposed sensor holds significant practical value as an industrial organic chemical sensor. Furthermore, a local and remote synchronous sensing system based on this sensor is also presented.","PeriodicalId":13272,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques","volume":"73 9","pages":"6956-6963"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145073157","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Microgels-Based Electromagnetic Nanosensor Network for Blood Glucose Monitoring","authors":"Zheng Gong;Xiang Chen;Shanaz X. Chen;Jun Hu;Yifan Chen","doi":"10.1109/TMTT.2025.3557933","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/TMTT.2025.3557933","url":null,"abstract":"Electromagnetic nanosensor network (ENSN) is an innovative technological concept that focuses on using electromagnetic technologies like microwaves and millimeter-waves for advanced biomedical applications. ENSNs enable highly sensitive detection of a phenomenon of interest (POI) through electromagnetic radiation. ENSNs are composed of interconnected nanoscale sensors that utilize electromagnetic principles to sense and communicate useful low-level physiological signals within the body. This article presents a novel microgels-based ENSN for microwave glucose monitoring, and the research contributions can be summarized into two main aspects. First, a new type of microgel-based sensor (MBS) sensitive to microenvironmental conditions is manufactured, and a comprehensive material characterization of dielectric constant is performed. The corresponding models provide critical insights into the potential biomedical applications of the microgels. Second, a microgels-oriented ENSN system is proposed to enable the acquisition of human physiological signals, including manufactured implantable and external sensors (i.e., MBSs and antennas), related circuits, and miniaturized signal transceivers. Moreover, a novel sensing strategy based on machine learning is proposed for accurate disease feature recognition using multiple pairs of sensors, which includes a differential sensing step to eliminate unwanted interference due to tissue heterogeneity and a data fusion step to improve system reliability. To verify the proposed ENSN, the feasibility of classifying blood glucose between hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia is investigated. By incorporating the microgels-based sensor, the proposed system significantly outperforms traditional microwave medical sensing (MMS) methods using only the external electromagnetic sensor (EMS), achieving remarkable 46% and 53% improvements in numerical and experimental classification performance.","PeriodicalId":13272,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques","volume":"73 9","pages":"6681-6694"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145073348","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"An ANN-Based GaN HEMT Large-Signal Model With High Near-Threshold Accuracy and Its Application in Class-AB MMIC PA Design","authors":"Haorui Luo;Jingyuan Zhang;Xudong Chen;Yongxin Guo","doi":"10.1109/TMTT.2025.3557152","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/TMTT.2025.3557152","url":null,"abstract":"Artificial neural network-based gallium nitride high-electron-mobility transistor (ANN-based GaN HEMT) models have garnered significant attention due to their high accuracy, low development costs, and immunity from process fluctuations. They have demonstrated huge potential in class-A and class-C power amplifier (PA) and low-noise amplifier (LNA) designs. However, there is limited reporting on the application of ANN-based GaN HEMT models in class-AB GaN monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) PAs. One key challenge lies in the limited accuracy and sensitivity of the drain current and gate capacitances in these models in the near-threshold region, which in turn leads to various issues in class-AB PA design, such as inaccurate biasing, stability, gain, and matching network design. To address this challenge, this article proposes an ANN-based GaN HEMT modeling method with high near-threshold accuracy by applying a nonlinear transformation, which utilizes initial fitting functions to transform the targets and amplify their characteristics in the near-threshold region, thereby improving the ANN’s fitting accuracy in this region. The model verification results show that compared to the traditional ANN-based models that do not transform targets, the proposed method achieves significantly higher accuracy in the near-threshold region while maintaining global accuracy. The proposed model is subsequently applied to the design of a class-AB GaN MMIC PA, which is measured to have a center frequency of 9.5 GHz, a 3-dB fractional bandwidth greater than 32%, a saturated output power of approximately 7 W within the bandwidth, and a maximum power-added efficiency (PAE) higher than 50%. Simulations accurately predict these measured values. These verifications demonstrate that the proposed model offers high prediction accuracy in the near-threshold region and performs well in class-AB GaN MMIC PA design.","PeriodicalId":13272,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques","volume":"73 9","pages":"6149-6161"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145073195","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Diode-Based Wideband Harmonic Generation for Future Nonlinear Sensing Applications","authors":"Thomas Micallef;Xiaoqiang Gu;Ke Wu","doi":"10.1109/TMTT.2025.3557189","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/TMTT.2025.3557189","url":null,"abstract":"An essential element in advancing next-generation RF systems and sensing applications through nonlinear sensing technology is the efficient production of harmonics at gigahertz (GHz) frequencies. This research offers a comprehensive theoretical and practical analysis of diode-based harmonic generators, specifically focusing on Schottky, varactor, and step recovery diodes. The study proposes time-domain current equations to predict harmonic amplitudes under various input voltages and biasing conditions, considering the distinctive resistive and capacitive nonlinearities of the diodes. The theoretical models are validated using fabricated prototypes, which demonstrate wideband harmonic production for a 1-GHz input signal with a frequency-modulated sweep spanning 600 MHz in total bandwidth. The measured average output power variation is ±3.4 dBm for SMS7630 and ±5.2 dBm for SMV1213. Beyond offering insights into impedance matching and design optimization, the results underscore the diodes’ suitability for low-power and batteryless applications. By providing a robust physical foundation for enhancing harmonic generation efficiency, this work aspires to drive the development of state-of-the-art RF systems and components.","PeriodicalId":13272,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques","volume":"73 9","pages":"6180-6191"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145073162","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Pulsed HEMT LNA Operation for Qubit Readout","authors":"Yin Zeng;Jörgen Stenarson;Peter Sobis;Jan Grahn","doi":"10.1109/TMTT.2025.3556982","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/TMTT.2025.3556982","url":null,"abstract":"Large-scale qubit readout in quantum computing systems requires highly sensitive amplification with minimal power consumption to reduce the thermal load and preserve qubit integrity. We propose a pulse-operated cryogenic low-noise amplifier (LNA) scheme that minimizes the influence of the LNA on qubit operation and reduces power consumption by duty cycling. A modified commercially available cryogenic hybrid LNA based on InP high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) has been characterized to demonstrate the feasibility of pulsed operation for qubit readout. The transient noise and gain performance of the LNA were obtained through a cryogenic time domain noise measurement setup with 5-ns time resolution and a measured noise standard deviation (SD) below 0.3 K. The time-domain noise and gain performance of the LNA in response to a square gate voltage waveform were investigated. Through an analysis of the LNA’s recovery limitations, we developed a fast recovery bias strategy leading to the optimization of the gate voltage waveform using a genetic algorithm (GA). This resulted in a strong enhancement of transient noise and gain performance with a recovery time of 35 ns. The drain current transients were measured to calculate the average power consumption of the pulse-operated LNA, which confirmed a reduction in average power consumption proportional to the duty cycle. This work contributes to the development of high-performance and low-power amplifier solutions critical for large-scale qubit readout applications.","PeriodicalId":13272,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques","volume":"73 9","pages":"6539-6553"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=10969553","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145073228","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ze-Hui Chen;Hao Chen;Hong-Tu Qu;Bu-Yun Yu;Tong-Shuai Sun;Lu-Yang Sun;Tian Liu;Zhao-Min Chen;Wei-Bing Lu
{"title":"A Strain-Insensitive Stretchable and Flexible Wideband Vivaldi Endfire Filtenna","authors":"Ze-Hui Chen;Hao Chen;Hong-Tu Qu;Bu-Yun Yu;Tong-Shuai Sun;Lu-Yang Sun;Tian Liu;Zhao-Min Chen;Wei-Bing Lu","doi":"10.1109/TMTT.2025.3556455","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/TMTT.2025.3556455","url":null,"abstract":"A strain-insensitive stretchable wideband Vivaldi filtenna based on a serpentine-loaded substrate-integrated dual-plasmonic waveguide (S-SIDPW) is presented. By leveraging the unique electromagnetic propagation modes of the substrate-integrated waveguide (SIW) and spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SSPPs), the filtenna achieves bandpass characteristics. Dispersion curve analysis reveals that the cutoff frequency can be independently controlled by these two structures. Periodic slots are etched on the surface of the SIW to form SSPP mode and then combine them with serpentine interconnections through an “island-bridge” mechanism. Equivalent medium parameters of the S-SIW are extracted using the transmission-reflection method, demonstrating that the serpentine microstructure extends the surface current path, thereby enhancing the slow wave effect. Consequently, the transverse dimension is effectively reduced. To address the trade-off between stretchability and impedance-matching stability, an innovative activation strategy is proposed to place stretchable microstructures in deformation-insensitive regions while retaining non-stretchable features in sensitive areas. Benefiting from the unique electromagnetic transmission modes of the hybrid SSPP/SIW design and the specialized structural configuration, the fabricated stretchable filtenna shows stable RF performance in the passband (4–6 GHz) under various deformations, demonstrating the potential of the proposed filtenna for applications in stretchable electronic systems.","PeriodicalId":13272,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques","volume":"73 9","pages":"5941-5952"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145073190","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Full-Wave Inversion Method for Perfectly Electric Conductors in an Iterative Framework","authors":"Tao Wei;Xiao-Hua Wang;Bing-Zhong Wang","doi":"10.1109/TMTT.2025.3556953","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/TMTT.2025.3556953","url":null,"abstract":"An efficient, accurate, and robust inversion algorithm is proposed in this work to reconstruct perfect electric conductor (PEC) scatterers, which considers the complex multiple scattering effects and employs a full-wave approach to address the inverse scattering problems (ISPs) of metallic structures. To perform the inverse scattering without prior knowledge of the scatterers, a diagonal matrix is introduced to represent the PECs, extending the mapping between the scattered field and the surface current across the entire computational domain. Furthermore, to improve the efficiency of the inversion, matrix transformations are employed to keep the nondiagonal elements zero, thus reducing the computational complexity. Additionally, to address the ill-posedness caused by the insufficient data and the noise interference in the ISPs, the Tikhonov regularization method is introduced, where the regularization parameter is adaptively determined by the L-curve method. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, several typical 2-D experiments were considered, and the results show that the method can accurately and efficiently reconstruct the complex PEC scatterers, even in the presence of strong noise.","PeriodicalId":13272,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques","volume":"73 9","pages":"6317-6325"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145073375","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Multi Time-Scale Modulated Metasurface-Based Electromagnetic Tags for Cooperative Target Identification","authors":"Xinyu Fang;Yiwei Wang;Mengmeng Li;Zihao Ning;Gengbo Wu;Dazhi Ding","doi":"10.1109/TMTT.2025.3551296","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/TMTT.2025.3551296","url":null,"abstract":"Non-contact target identification technology serves as a critical requirement for intelligent microwave sensing systems. In this article, we propose a novel electromagnetic (EM) tag for cooperative target identification based on a multi time-scale modulated metasurface (MTM-MTS). The modulation scheme of the metasurface involves pseudorandom modulation on the fast-time scale and periodic modulation on the slow-time scale. The detector can identify the target in the delay-frequency domain by using correlation operation and Fourier transform on the fast/slow-time scale, respectively. The primary advantage of this approach lies in the security of cooperative target identification and the flexibility of the EM tag encoding. To verify the proposed EM tag, we design and fabricate a reconfigurable metasurface operating at the Ka band. The experimental accuracy of target identification exceeds 0.9 in the monostatic case, demonstrating the effectiveness and reliability of the proposed tag.","PeriodicalId":13272,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques","volume":"73 9","pages":"6836-6846"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145073254","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Dual-Passband Reconfigurable FSS With Concurrently Tunable and Connected Passbands","authors":"Ming Liao;Xiaolong Weng;Mei Bi","doi":"10.1109/TMTT.2025.3556076","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/TMTT.2025.3556076","url":null,"abstract":"In this article, a dual-passband reconfigurable frequency-selective surface (DRFSS) with continuous and connected passband tuning ranges is proposed. First, an equivalent circuit analysis of the DRFSS is conducted to evaluate the impact of design parameters on the two passbands’ transmission performance. In addition, the influence of varactor diodes on the tunable bandwidth is analyzed. Second, based on the analysis, a design method is proposed. Third, a composite unit cell structure is developed, incorporating two parallel groups of identical varactors for simultaneous dual-passband tunability, with an isolated bias network ensuring polarization-independent performance. Finally, prototypes for parallel-plate waveguide (PPW) and free-space measurements are fabricated and measured. Experimental results agree well with simulations, verifying the superior performance and feasibility of the proposed DRFSS. Key features include a tunable relative bandwidth (RBW) of up to 119.0%, high-transmission efficiency within the passbands, and the distinctive characteristic of connected tunable passbands. In addition, the design can be adapted for independently tunable passbands as needed.","PeriodicalId":13272,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques","volume":"73 9","pages":"6905-6917"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145073432","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}