Thin film y-junction circulator

Claim 2

A circulator for operation in a given band of high-frequency electromagnetic wave energy comprising: a substrate of gyromagnetic material; a plurality of flat conductive strips arranged in groups with the strips of each group extending parallel to each other across said substrate and strips of different groups intermeshing at 120* to each other across said substrate; each of said strips forming a part of a strip transmission line and exhibiting an inductive reactance when one end of all strips within a group is excited by high-frequency wave energy, each strip having an overcrossing and an undercrossing with every strip of other groups at points adjacent to said substrate; and the pattern of said over and undercrossings being identical for every strip so that the capacitances between strips at said crossings together resonate with the inductive reactance of the strips within said given band.

Claim 3

The combination according to claim 1 wherein each of said strips have two overcrossings and two undercrossings.

Claim 4

The combination according to claim 1 wherein strips of the same group have opposite sequences of undercrossings and overcrossings.

Claim 5

The combination according to claim 1 wherein the capacitances at said crossings comprise substantially the sole capacitance resonating with said inductive reactance.

Claim 6

The combination according to claim 1 wherein the spacing between faces of strips at a crossing is no greater than 8 microns.

Claim 7

A Y-junction circulator comprising: a ground plane; a core of gyromagnetic material located above the ground plane; three substantially flat conducting members located above the gyromagnetic core, each of the members exhibiting an inductive reactance when one end thereof is connected to a source of high-frequency energy, the middle segment of each member being divided into a plurality of substantially flat parallel inner conductors, the members being radially arranged 120* apart with the grounded end of each member lying between the ungrounded ends of the other members and each inner conductor of a first member crossing the inner conductors of the other members; and means for closely spacing pairs of inner conductors at their respective crossing points to produce capacitances at the crossing points sufficient to resonate with the inductive reactance of the members at a desired high frequency of operation.

Claim 8

A Y-junction circulator comprising: a ground plane; a core of gyromagnetic material located above the ground plane; three substantially flat conducting members located above the gyromagnetic core, each of the members exhibiting an inductive reactance when one end thereof is connected to a source of high-frequency energy, the middle segment of each member being divided into a plurality of substantially flat parallel inner conductors, the members being radially arranged 120* apart with the grounded end of each member lying between the ungrounded ends of the other members and each inner conductor of a first member crossing the inner conductors of the other members; and means for closely spacing pairs of inner conductors at their respective crossing points to produce capacitances at the crossing points sufficient to resonate with the inductive reactance of the members at a desired high frequency of operation.

Claim 9

A Y-junction cirCulator comprising: a lower ground plane having a central axis; three coplanar conductors, each having one end grounded, radially arranged in rotational symmetry about the central axis above the ground plane so that their midpoints lie on the axis, their middle portions overlap, and the grounded end of a first conductor lies between the ungrounded ends of the second and third conductors; a member of gyromagnetic material located between the ground plane and the conductors; and means for symmetrically producing a significant capacitance associated with the overlapping of each conductor, said means comprising the sole significant capacity forming a resonant circuit with the inductance of said conductors.

Claim 10

A Y-junction cirCulator comprising: a lower ground plane having a central axis; three coplanar conductors, each having one end grounded, radially arranged in rotational symmetry about the central axis above the ground plane so that their midpoints lie on the axis, their middle portions overlap, and the grounded end of a first conductor lies between the ungrounded ends of the second and third conductors; a member of gyromagnetic material located between the ground plane and the conductors; and means for symmetrically producing a significant capacitance associated with the overlapping of each conductor, said means comprising the sole significant capacity forming a resonant circuit with the inductance of said conductors.