Metal- and Dielectric-Loaded Waveguide: An Artificial Material for Tailoring the Waveguide Propagation Characteristics

In the present chapter a number of loaded structures are studied with circular cross-section to explore the deviation in their dispersion characteristics from their parent circular waveguide. The dielectric and/or metal loading to the waveguide tailors its dispersion characteristics. In general, the dielectric depresses and the metal elevates the dispersion characteristics from the characteristics of their parent circular waveguide. The axial periodicity results in periodic dispersion characteristics with a lower and an upper cut-off frequency (bandpass). However such a characteristic is not reported for the azimuthal periodic structures. The bandpass characteristic arises due to the shaping of the dispersion characteristics. Therefore the dispersion shaping is only possible with axial periodicity and not with the azimuthal periodicity. The sensitivity of the structure (geometry) parameters on the lower and upper cut-off frequencies, the extent of passband and the dispersion shaping are also included. In the axial periodic structures, the periodicity is found to be the most sensitive parameter for tailoring the dispersion characteristics and the disc-hole radius is the most sensitive parameter for shifting the dispersion characteristics over the frequency axis.