Wave Transmission on Microstrip Lines

Alexander Qian

Advisor: Dr. Beth Parks

A microstrip line is a transmission structure widely used in microfabricated circuits. This structure is planar in configuration because planar structures are the easiest to produce using nanofabrication techniques. The strip lines are fabricated on silicon wafers through the technique of photolithography. Different electric potentials are applied to the two lines.  A laser pulse is focused on the silicon wafer between the transmission lines, causing a large increment in the conductivity of the silicon. Consequently an electric wave will propagate on the two strip lines. The current in the circuit will be measured and recorded. The data will by analyzed through Fourier transformation, and a model will be built to simulate the wave transmission. In the future, similar transmission lines will be used to measure the high frequency properties of carbon nanotubes.