Double-Stub Tuner

It is a matching network consisting of two

adjustable stubs fixed in position on the
t
transmission
i i line
li

The spacing of the stubs is not critical

An odd number of
impedances

/8

will match a wide range of

In our examples we will use a stub of separation of

/8

For proper matching the input normalized

admittance to the left of junction 2-2 should be unity.

Since stub2 adds susceptance only to the line, the

normalized admittance to the right of junction 2-2 must be
of the form 1+jb.
That means that the admittance to the right of 2-2 junction
must appear on the dashed circle A below.
below

The / 8
transformer (between the two stubs) will transform
all the admittances that lie on circle A to points on circle B which
is displaced toward the load from circle A.
Basically, the idea is:
Get stub1 to transform the input impedance of the line and load
to the right of junction 1-1 into an admittance with a locus
on circle B
1) The / 8 transformer will transform the admittance value
(just to the right
(j
g of 2-2)) on the locus circle A with a value
of 1+jb.
2) Stub2 is then used to cancel the +jb component to end up
wit ha normalized admittance of 1.

Example
The normalized admittance of the load on a line is 0.3-j2.0.
This is to be matched to the line by a double stub spaced / 8
apart with the nearest stub 0.1 from the load.
apart,
load

Solution:
1) The admittance seen to the right of stub1 is found by rotating
the normalized admittance point (0.3-j2) a distance 0 . 1
towards the generator.
That value is 0.08-j0.53 (point 1 on the chart)
2) Stub 1 adds susceptance to the line so that the admittance lies
on circle B
That corresponds to point 0 on the smith chart and has the value
of 0.08+j0.6
That means that stub 1 must add a normalized susceptance of
(0.08+j0.6) (0.08-j0.53) = j1.13

The length L1 of stub 1 is found to be 0 . 385 which can be

evaluated by rotating along the generator circle from the infinite
admittance point until an admittance of j1.13 is found
3) Next
N
bby moving
i a / 8 distance
di
from
f
point
i 1-1
1 1 to point
i 2-2
22
we reach point 2 on circle A.
That point corresponds to the value 1+j3.9 on the chart
Stub 2 must be adjusted to yield a susceptance of -j3.9 to
achieve the final match.
match
From the Smith Chart L2 is found to be equal to 00. 04
. 04 by
rotating towards the generator from the infinite admittance point
until an admittance of j3.9 is found

Another Example : Double-stub Matching

The terminating impedance Zl is 100 +j100 and the
characteristic impedance Z0 of the line and stub is 50 . The first
stub is placed at 0.40 away from the load. The spacing between
the two stubs is 3/8. Determine the length
g of the short-circuited
stubs when the match is achieved. What terminations are forbidden
for matching the line by the double-stub device?

Solution
1. Compute the normalized load impedance Zl and enter
it on the Smith Chart :
Zl =

100 + j100
= 2 + j2
50

2. Plot a SWR circle and read the normalized load

admittance 180o out of phase with Zl on the SWR

circle:

y l = 0 .25 j 0 .25

3. Draw the spacing circle of 3/8 by rotating the constantconductance unity circle (g=1) through a phase angle of
2d=23/8=3/2 toward the load. Now y11 must be on this spacing
circle, since yd2 will be on the g=1 circle (y11 and yd2 are 3/8 apart).
44. Move
M
yl for
f a distance
di t
off 0.40
0 40 from
f
0 458 to
0.458
t 0.358
0 358 along
l
the
th
SWR circle toward the generator and read yd1 on the chart:
yd1=0.55-j1.08
5. There are two possible solutions for y11. They can be found by
carrying yd1 along the constant-conductance (g=0.55) circle that
intersects the spacing circle at two points:
. y11=0.55-j1.01

y11=0.55-j1.88

6. At the junction 1-1,

y11=yd1+ys1
Then
ys1=y11-yyd1=(0.55-j0.11)-(0.55-j0.08)=+j0.97
=(0 55 j0 11) (0 55 j0 08)=+j0 97
Similarly,
ys1= -j0.80
7. The lengths of stub 1 are found as
l1= ((0.25+0.123)) =0.373
l1= (0.25-0.107) =0.143
8. The 3/8 section of line transforms y11 to yd2 and y11 to yd2 along
their constant standing-wave circles, respectively. That is:

yd2=1-j0.61
yd2=1+j2.60
9. Then stub 2 must contribute
ys2=+j0.61
ys2=-j2.60
10. The lengths of stub 2 are found as
l2= (0.25+0.087) =0.337
l2= (0.308-0.25) =0.058
11. It can be seen from the Smith Chart that a normalized yl located
inside the hatched area cannot be brought to lie on the locus of y11 or
y11 for a possible match by the parallel connection of any shortcircuited stub because the spacing circle and g=2 circle are mutually
tangent.

Thus the area of a g=2 circle is called the forbidden region of the
normalized load admittance for possible match.

The Quarter Wave

Transformer
If only a narrow band impedance match is required, a
single-section
i l
ti transformer
t
f
is
i goodd enough.
h
One drawback: it can only be used to match a real load
impedance.
Multi-section /4 Transformers can be used to achieve
optimum matching characteristics over a desired
frequency band.

Consider the following quarter lambda Transformer

l = =

Z in = Z1
With l = =

Z L + jZ1 tan l
Z1 + jZ L tan l

(1)

at the design frequency fo

Since
and Z

2
1

Z
Z

= Z

in

Z
+ Z

in

at the point where Zo and Zin meet

we can show that:

ZL Z0
Z L + Z 0 + j 2 tan l Z 0 Z L

(2)

This equation is valid for a single /4 Transformer only. The

magnitude of the reflection coefficient is:

If

and since
becomes:

{1 + [4 Z

then

fo

(sec
Z

cos
0

y2

(3)

1 )

and

Z L / (Z L Z 0 ) sec
2

equation (3)

for

(4)

The next Figure shows the approximate behavior of

the single l transformer.
4

=2(/2-m) is the bandwidth within which < m

At =m we get = m
For TEM lines:
= l =

and

fo

fo

(5)

Fractional bandwidth:

f
2( fo fm
=
fo
fo
f
4
= 2
cos
fo

)=
1

2 fm
4
= 2
fo

m
1 m2

2 Z oZ L

ZL Zo

(6)
(7)

10

Reflection coefficient magnitude as a function of f

various load mismathes

for

The Theory of Small Reflections

For more bandwidth, multi-section /4 transformers are
used.
To design a multiple /4 let us look at the reflections that occur
in a T.L. Consider the figure below:

11

The partial and T are:

1 =

Z 2 Z1
Z Z2
; 2 = 1 ; 3 = L
Z 2 + Z1
ZL + Z2

T21 = 1 + 1 =

2Z 2
2Z1
; T12 = 1 + 2 =
Z1 + Z 2
Z1 + Z 2

The total reflection seen at the feed line is:

= 1 + T12T213e 2 j + T12T21232 e 4 j + ...

= 1 + T12T213e

2 j

e
n =0

n n 2 j
2 3

(8)

using the geometric series:

n = 0

1
1 x

for

equation (8) becomes:

T 12 T 21 3 e 2
= 1 +
1 23e 2

j
j

(9)

using 2= -1, T21=1+ 1, and T12= 1-1

1 + 3 e 2 j
We get: =
1 + 1 + 3 e 2 j

(10)

12

For

j 2

(11)

are the dominant components

The same concept can be extended to the

Multisection Transformer.

0 =

Z1 Z0
Z Z
Z Z
; n = n+1 n ; N = L N ;
Z1 + Z0
Zn+1 + Zn
ZL + Z N

We can approximate the total as:

( ) 0 + 1e 2 j + 2 e 4 j + ... + N e 2 jN

( )
(12)

If the Transformers are made symmetrical then:

13

for N even
( ) = e

jN

0 cos N + 1 cos(N 2) + ... + n cos( N 2n) + ... +

N / 2
2
2

or

(13)

for N odd
0 cosN + 1 cos( N 2) +...+ n cos(N 2n) +...+
( ) = 2e jN

( N1)/ 2 cos

(14)

The idea is to use these equations to synthesize any

desired as a function of f, by choosing the
appropriate # of sections (N) and reflections ns.
There are two main approaches:
The binomial (maximally flat) or
the Chebystev (equal ripple) approach.

14

Binomial Transformer
Given a certain number of sections, the response () is
flat around the design frequency.
Basically we set:

= 2 N A cos

(15)

We can determine A by setting:

f

0 = l = 0 equation (15) becomes:

(0 )

= 2

Z
Z

L
L

Z
+ Z

(16)

0
0

at f=0, all sections are of zero length and l=0 for

all of them.

A = 2N

ZL - Z0
ZL + Z0

(17)

() can be expanded also as:

)=

n=0

N
n

N
n

N!
( N n )! n !

e 2

jn

Binomial coefficients

(18)
(19)

CnN = C NN n , C0N = 1, C1N = N = C NN1

15

The design procedure is as follows:

Choose a and match it to the:
N

( ) = A

C nN e 2

= 0 + 1 e 2

n=0

jn

+ ... + N e 2

jN

(20)

That also means:

1 = ACnN ; 2 = AC2N ; 3 = AC3N ...

n = AC nN

or

(21)

at each interface we have:

n =

Z n +1 Z n
Z
1

ln n + 1
Z n +1 + Z n
Zn
2

(22)

Matching equation (22) and (21) yields:

ln
also

Z n +1
= 2 AC
Zn

N
n

2(f0 fm
f
=
f0
f0
= 2

cos

ZL
Z0

2 N C nN ln

(23)

)=

1 m
2 A

1
N

16

Example
Design a 3 section binomial transformer to match a
50 load to a 100 line and calculate the
b d idth for
bandwidth
f
Pl t the
th results
lt for
f 1,2,3,4,
1234
m = 0.05 . Plot
and 5 sections

Solution:
For N=3 , ZL=50 Ohm, Zo=100 Ohm we get:

A = 2N

1
ZL - Z0
Z
N + 1 ln L = 0 . 0433
2
ZL + Z0
Zo

The bandwidth is then:

f
4
= 2
cos
f0

= 2

cos

1
2

1 0 . 05
2 0 . 0433

3
= 0 . 70 , or 70 %

1
N

The necessary binomial coefficients are:

C

3
0

C 13
C

3
2

3!
= 1
0 )!0 !
3!
=
= 3
(3 1 )!1!
3!
=
= 3
(3 2 )! 2 !
=

(3

17

The characteristic impedances are:

n = 0 ln Z 1 = ln Z
= ln 100 + 2 3 ( 1 ) ln

+ 2 3 C

50
100

3
0

ln

Z
Z

= 4 . 518

Z 1 = 91 . 7

n = 1 ln Z

= ln Z 1 + 2 3 C 13 ln

= ln 91 . 7 + 2 3 ( 3 ) ln
Z

= ln Z

= ln 70 . 7 + 2 3 ( 3 ) ln
3

= 4 . 26

= 70 . 7

n = 2 ln Z

50
100

Z
Z

+ 2 3 C

50
100

3
2

ln

Z
Z

= 4 . 00

= 54 . 5

18

19