Reconfigurable bidirectional amplifier based on artificial surface plasmons

Abstract

The application discloses a reconfigurable bidirectional amplifier based on artificial surface plasmons, which comprises a first, a second and a third artificial surface plasmon transmission line loaded on a dielectric substrate and a switch-amplification multifunctional chip, the first and the second artificial surface plasmon transmission lines are of the same length, the switch-amplification multifunctional chip comprises a port A, a port B, a port C and a port D, the port A is connected with an SMA connector port through the first artificial surface plasmon transmission line, the port B is connected with an SMA connector port through the second artificial surface plasmon transmission line, the port C is connected with a control port I through the third artificial surface plasmon transmission line, and the port D is connected with a control port II through a power-on control wire; and the reconfigurable bidirectional amplification of the switch-amplification multifunctional chip is realized by controlling the power-on voltage of the control port C and the port D. The reconfigurable bidirectional amplifier can be applied to a transceiving system and has important engineering implementation value.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application belongs to the field of novel artificial electromagnetic materials, and relates to a reconfigurable bidirectional amplifier based on artificial surface plasmons. BACKGROUND

[0002] The properties of natural materials are mainly determined by the intrinsic properties and arrangement of the micro-particles (such as molecules and atoms) that constitute the material. However, the physical size of micro-particles is very small, and they can only interact with micro-physical fields (such as visible light) whose wavelengths are comparable to the size of the micro-particles, and the ability to manipulate macro-physical fields (such as microwaves and acoustic waves) is limited. In order to solve the above problems, metamaterials construct artificial microstructures with a size between the micro-particles and the wavelength of the macro-physical field, enhance the ability to manipulate the characteristics of the macro-physical field, break through the ability boundary of natural materials, and achieve, for example, negative permittivity, negative permeability, zero refractive index, and equivalent negative mass, to solve the urgent needs of scientific and technological development (such as super-resolution lenses and perfect invisibility).

[0003] Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) are surface waves propagating along the interface, where two media have opposite permittivities at optical frequencies. Plasmonic metamaterials are generated by constructing subwavelength structures on the surface of a metal. Surface plasmons have significant field confinement and field enhancement effects. Artificial surface plasmons (Spoof Surface Plasmon Polaritons, SSPPs) simulate the characteristics of SPPs by constructing plasmonic metal surfaces, have the advantage of adjusting electromagnetic waves at subwavelength scale, and can manipulate the intrinsic properties of mode cutoff frequency, bound state and propagation velocity at microwave or terahertz frequency band. Metasurfaces can adjust and control spatial electromagnetic waves, and plasmonic metamaterials can effectively manipulate the electromagnetic modes of surface waveguides to adjust electromagnetic waves at subwavelength scale. Due to flexibility, wideband and low loss, conformal plasmonic waveguides formed by ultra-thin corrugated metal strips represent a slow-wave waveguide for propagating artificial surface plasmons. In previous reports, three types of artificial surface plasmon transmission lines have been reported, including ungrounded single-conductor artificial surface plasmon transmission lines, grounded single-conductor artificial surface plasmon transmission lines and double-conductor artificial surface plasmon transmission lines. Using artificial surface plasmon transmission lines, deep subwavelength crosstalk suppression has been achieved. A series of artificial surface plasmon passive devices, such as filters, couplers, power dividers, combiners and antennas, artificial surface plasmon active devices, such as amplifiers and second harmonic generators, and wireless communication systems based on artificial surface plasmons have been studied and verified theoretically and experimentally.

[0004] With the development of artificial surface plasmons, it is necessary to amplify directly in the link. Previous reports only amplify in one direction and the amplification direction cannot be changed. If the receiving channel and the transmitting channel in the transceiver system need to amplify signals, double the number of one-way amplifiers will be used, and the size of the multi-channel microwave assembly in the transceiver system will also be greatly expanded. SUMMARY

[0005] The purpose of the application is to provide a reconfigurable bidirectional amplifier based on artificial surface plasmons.

[0006] Technical scheme: The reconfigurable bidirectional amplifier based on artificial surface plasmons comprises a first artificial surface plasmon transmission line, a second artificial surface plasmon transmission line, a third artificial surface plasmon transmission line, a power-on control wire and a switch amplification multifunctional chip loaded on a dielectric substrate. The artificial surface plasmon transmission line comprises a microstrip line and a plurality of periodically arranged artificial surface plasmon units. The first artificial surface plasmon transmission line and the second artificial surface plasmon transmission line have the same length and the same number of artificial surface plasmon units. The port of the switch amplification multifunctional chip comprises port A, port B, port C and port D. Port A is connected with the port of the SMA connector through the first artificial surface plasmon transmission line. Port B is connected with the port of the SMA connector through the second artificial surface plasmon transmission line. Port C is connected with the first power-on control port I through the third artificial surface plasmon transmission line. Port D is connected with the second power-on control port II through the power-on control wire. The reconfigurable bidirectional amplification function of the switch amplification multifunctional chip is realized by controlling the power-on control voltage of port C and port D. At the same time, the low-pass filtering function of the reconfigurable bidirectional amplifier is realized by using the cutoff frequency of the artificial surface plasmon unit.

[0007] Optionally, when the port C and the port D of the switch amplification multifunctional chip are powered on +5V and 0V respectively, the forward amplification function is realized. When the port C and the port D of the switch amplification multifunctional chip are powered on 0V and +5V respectively, the reverse amplification function is realized.

[0008] Optionally, a direct current blocking capacitor is connected in series between the port A of the switch amplification multifunctional chip and the first artificial surface plasmon transmission line, and between the port B of the switch amplification multifunctional chip and the second artificial surface plasmon transmission line. A filter capacitor is connected in parallel between the port C of the switch amplification multifunctional chip and the third artificial surface plasmon transmission line, and between the port D of the switch amplification multifunctional chip and the power-on control wire.

[0009] Optionally, the switch amplification multifunctional chip port A and port B and the corresponding direct current blocking capacitor, port C and port D and the corresponding filter capacitor, the third artificial surface plasmon transmission line and the power control wire and the corresponding filter capacitor are integrated by bonding gold wires through micro assembly process, and the first artificial surface plasmon transmission line and the second artificial surface plasmon transmission line and the corresponding direct current blocking capacitor are respectively bonded by conductive glue.

[0010] Optionally, the artificial surface plasmon unit comprises a top metal layer, a bottom metal ground and an intermediate dielectric layer.

[0011] Optionally, the top metal layer adopts an open bending line design.

[0012] Optionally, by changing the bending line parameters, the dispersion curve is controlled in the microwave frequency band, the customized cutoff frequency is obtained, and the low-pass filtering function is realized.

[0013] Optionally, the bottom metal ground adopts a large-area ground design.

[0014] Optionally, the intermediate dielectric layer is RO4350B, the dielectric constant is 3.48, and the loss tangent is 0.0037.

[0015] The application also provides a transceiver system comprising the artificial surface plasmon-based reconfigurable bidirectional amplifier.

[0016] Advantages: Compared with the prior art, the significant technical effects of the application are: (1) by changing the geometric size of the artificial surface plasmon unit, the cutoff frequency of the microwave circuit can be customized, without the need for an additional large-size filter, thereby greatly reducing the size of the microwave product; (2) the artificial surface plasmon-based reconfigurable bidirectional amplifier in the application can switch the switch integrated in the bidirectional amplifier by adjusting the external voltage, thereby realizing the function of reconfigurable bidirectional amplification, and can be applied to a transceiver system; (3) the artificial surface plasmon-based reconfigurable bidirectional amplifier in the application has the advantages of high gain, good gain flatness and high out-of-band suppression. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0017] Figure 1 for the artificial surface plasmon unit in the embodiments of the application;

[0018] Figure 2 for the artificial surface plasmon unit dispersion curve simulation result in the embodiments of the application;

[0019] Figure 3 for the artificial surface plasmon-based reconfigurable bidirectional amplifier design schematic in the embodiments of the application;

[0020] Figure 4It is a physical diagram of the reconfigurable bidirectional amplifier based on artificial surface plasmons in the embodiment of the present application; wherein (a) is a front view, (b) is a back view, and (c) is a partial enlarged view;

[0021] Figure 5 It is a scheme block diagram of the switch amplification multifunctional chip in the embodiment of the present application;

[0022] Figure 6 It is a physical test schematic diagram in the embodiment of the present application;

[0023] Figure 7 It is a simulation result diagram of the transmission line transmission characteristic based on SSPPs in the embodiment of the present application;

[0024] Figure 8 It is a transmission characteristic test result diagram of the bidirectional amplifier based on SSPPs in the embodiment of the present application;

[0025] Figure 9 It is a phase test result diagram of the bidirectional amplifier based on SSPPs in the embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] The technical solutions of the present application will be further described in combination with the embodiments and the accompanying drawings of the specification.

[0027] The following embodiments are only preferred embodiments of the present application, and it should be noted that: for ordinary skilled in the art, without departing from the principles of the present application, can make a number of improvements and equivalent replacement, these on the improved and equivalent replacement of the technical solutions of the present application claims, all fall within the scope of the present application.

[0028] In transceiver systems, several microwave devices, such as limiters, attenuators, filters, single-pole single-throw switches, digitally controlled attenuators, and digitally controlled phase shifters, can be used in bidirectional microwave signal transmission links. Therefore, based on the actual needs of the transceiver system, artificial surface plasmon transmission lines are integrated with switching amplifier multifunctional chips. Combined with micro-assembly technology, forward and reverse amplification can be reconstructed, and low-pass filtering functionality is also provided. This research first designs an artificial surface plasmon resonance (ASPR) unit using a zigzag line, then designs an ASPR transmission line based on the ASPR unit, and finally designs a reconfigurable bidirectional amplifier based on ASPR using the ASPR transmission line and a bidirectional amplifier. This reconfigurable bidirectional amplifier has reconfigurable forward amplification, reverse amplification, and low-pass filtering functions. Therefore, the reconfigurable bidirectional amplifier in this invention can be combined with devices such as limiters, attenuators, filters, single-pole single-throw switches, digitally controlled attenuators, and digitally controlled phase shifters with bidirectional microwave signal processing to build a transceiver link, merging separate receiving and transmitting channels into a single transceiver channel, which has significant engineering implications for the miniaturization of transceiver systems.

[0029] Artificial surface plasmon units in embodiments of the present invention, such as Figure 1 As shown, the device includes a top metal layer 101, a bottom metal ground layer 102, and an intermediate dielectric layer, with the intermediate dielectric layer between the top metal layer 101 and the bottom metal ground layer 102. This unit has a double-sided copper-clad structure. Traditional artificial surface plasmon resonance (ASPR) units use a recessed design. In this embodiment, the top metal layer 101 uses an open bend line design. Compared to traditional ASPR units, this embodiment uses a bend line design to achieve the same cutoff frequency in a smaller size, achieving miniaturization. It should be noted that the bend line design in this embodiment is only one way to achieve miniaturized ASPR units; several improvements and equivalent substitutions can be made. These improvements and equivalent substitutions all fall within the protection scope of this invention. The bottom metal ground layer 102 uses a large-area ground plane design. The intermediate dielectric layer is RO4350B with a dielectric constant of 3.48 and a loss tangent of 0.0037. By changing... Figure 1 By manipulating the parameters d, We, and p of the bent-line structure in the middle and top metal layers to modulate the dispersion curve in the microwave band, a customized cutoff frequency is obtained. This artificial surface plasmon resonance (APR) unit, designed using the bent-line structure, can be applied to miniaturized systems. In existing engineering projects, large-size filters occupy significant space in microwave circuits. To address this issue, the APR, with its filtering function, offers a solution for miniaturization and cost reduction in microwave circuits.

[0030] The simulation results of the dispersion curves of the artificial surface plasmon units in this embodiment of the invention are as follows: Figure 2As shown, the dispersion curve of the artificial surface plasmon unit gradually deviates from the light, and finally reaches the cutoff frequency 17.78GHz.

[0031] The artificial surface plasmon units are periodically arranged, and an artificial surface plasmon transmission line is designed, the artificial surface plasmon transmission line comprises a microstrip line and a plurality of periodically arranged artificial surface plasmon units, the transmission line not only has a transmission characteristic, but also has a low-pass filtering function, and the low-pass filtering function is achieved by using the cutoff frequency characteristic of the artificial surface plasmon. The reconfigurable bidirectional amplifier has good gain flatness and high gain performance in the working bandwidth, and has important engineering implementation value by combining the front-end technology with engineering implementation.

[0032] The reconfigurable bidirectional amplifier based on the artificial surface plasmon is designed based on the artificial surface plasmon transmission line and the switch amplification multifunction chip, the artificial surface plasmon transmission line and the switch amplification multifunction chip are integrated, and the reconfigurable bidirectional amplifier has the functions of reconfigurable bidirectional amplification, high gain, good gain flatness and low-pass filtering, and can be applied to a transceiver system.

[0033] The design schematic diagram of the reconfigurable bidirectional amplifier based on the artificial surface plasmon in the embodiment of the application is as shown in Figure 3As shown, it mainly includes a first artificial surface plasmon transmission line 1, a second artificial surface plasmon transmission line 2, a third artificial surface plasmon transmission line 3, a power-on control wire 4 and a switch amplification multifunctional chip 5 loaded on a PCB medium substrate. The first and second artificial surface plasmon transmission lines are radio frequency transmission lines, and the third artificial surface plasmon transmission line and the power-on control wire are power-on control lines. The ports of the switch amplification multifunctional chip 5 are composed of port A, port B, port C and port D, wherein port A and port B are radio frequency ports, and port C and port D are power-on control ports. The first artificial surface plasmon transmission line, the second artificial surface plasmon transmission line, the third artificial surface plasmon transmission line and the power-on control wire are connected with the switch amplification multifunctional chip through capacitors and gold wire interconnections. One end of the first artificial surface plasmon transmission line 1 is connected with an SMA connector port for testing, and the other end is bonded with a conductive adhesive in series with a direct-current isolation capacitor, and then two gold wires are bonded with port A of the switch amplification multifunctional chip by using micro assembly process. The artificial surface plasmon transmission line and the switch amplification multifunctional chip are provided with a direct-current isolation capacitor therebetween for protection of the testing instrument; one end of the second artificial surface plasmon transmission line 2 is connected with an SMA connector port for testing, and the other end is also bonded with a conductive adhesive in series with a direct-current isolation capacitor, and then two gold wires are bonded with port B of the switch amplification multifunctional chip by using micro assembly process; one end of the third artificial surface plasmon transmission line 3 is connected with a first control port I, two gold wires are bonded to a filter capacitor by using micro assembly process, and then two gold wires are bonded to port C of the switch amplification multifunctional chip from the filter capacitor in parallel with the filter capacitor. The third artificial surface plasmon transmission line 3 mainly functions to verify whether the artificial surface plasmon transmission line can be used as a power-on control line; one end of the power-on control wire 4 is connected with a second control port II, two gold wires are bonded to a filter capacitor by using micro assembly process, and then two gold wires are bonded to port D of the switch amplification multifunctional chip from the filter capacitor in parallel with the filter capacitor. The power-on control wire 4 is used for power-on and control of port D of the switch amplification multifunctional chip. The filter capacitors at port C and port D function as power supply filtering, and the two filter capacitors and the switch amplification multifunctional chip are adhered to ground pads by using conductive adhesive. The reconfigurable bidirectional amplification function of the switch amplification multifunctional chip is realized by controlling the power-on control voltage of port C and port D of the switch amplification multifunctional chip, and on this basis, the low-pass filtering function of the artificial surface plasmon transmission line is increased. The threaded hole 6, the SMA ground pad 7 and the SMA connector function for testing. The threaded hole 6 functions to support the circuit board by using screws; the SMA ground pad 7 functions to weld the lug of the SMA connector to the circuit board; the ground pad 8 is externally welded with an aviation wire ground, and the ground wire 9 is used to ensure good ground performance of the switch amplification multifunctional chip.

[0034] The artificial surface plasmon transmission line comprises a microstrip line and a plurality of periodically arranged artificial surface plasmon units, the first artificial surface plasmon transmission line and the second artificial surface plasmon transmission line are of the same length and contain the same number of artificial surface plasmon units, so as to ensure that the transmission and filtering characteristics of the first artificial surface plasmon transmission line and the second artificial surface plasmon transmission line are the same. In the embodiment, the first artificial surface plasmon transmission line and the second artificial surface plasmon transmission line each comprise 10 artificial surface plasmon units, and the third transmission line comprises 5 artificial surface plasmon units.

[0035] The actual diagram of the reconfigurable bidirectional amplifier based on artificial surface plasmons and the schematic diagram of the switch amplification multifunctional chip scheme in the embodiment of the application are shown in Figure 4 and Figure 5 The front view, the back view and the partial enlarged view of the reconfigurable bidirectional amplifier based on artificial surface plasmons are shown in Figure 4As shown in (a), (b) and (c), the reconfigurable bidirectional amplifier is realized by 2-bit coding, and the 2-bit coding information includes "00", "01", "10" and "11", wherein "0" represents that the power-on control voltage of the switch amplification multifunctional chip is 0V; "1" represents that the power-on control voltage of the switch amplification multifunctional chip is +5V; the switch amplification multifunctional chip comprises a first single-pole double-throw switch E, a second single-pole double-throw switch F, a first amplifier M and a second amplifier N, the first amplifier M is amplified from left to right (i.e. forward amplification), the second amplifier N is amplified from right to left (i.e. reverse amplification), the normally closed contact of the first single-pole double-throw switch E is connected with the port A of the switch amplification multifunctional chip, and the normally open contact is connected with the first amplifier M or the second amplifier N; the normally closed contact of the second single-pole double-throw switch F is connected with the port B of the switch amplification multifunctional chip, and the normally open contact is connected with the first amplifier M or the second amplifier N. When the power-on voltage of the switch amplification multifunctional chip is 0V, the amplifiers in the switch amplification multifunctional chip do not work, and when the power-on voltage of the switch amplification multifunctional chip is +5V, the amplifiers in the switch amplification multifunctional chip work normally. "10" represents forward amplification conduction, "10" represents that the power-on voltages of the port C and the port D of the switch amplification multifunctional chip are +5V and 0V respectively, the first amplifier M works normally, the second amplifier N does not work, both the single-pole double-throw switches are cut to the first amplifier M branch, and the whole link is connected; "01" represents reverse amplification conduction, "01" represents that the power-on voltages of the port C and the port D of the switch amplification multifunctional chip are 0V and +5V respectively, the first amplifier M does not work, the second amplifier N works normally, both the single-pole double-throw switches are cut to the second amplifier N branch, and the whole link is connected; "00" represents that the power-on voltages of the port C and the port D of the switch amplification multifunctional chip are 0V, the first amplifier M and the second amplifier N do not work, the first single-pole double-throw switch E is cut to the second amplifier N branch, the second single-pole double-throw switch F is cut to the first amplifier M branch, and the amplifiers do not work and the link is not connected; and "11" represents that the power-on voltages of the port C and the port D of the switch amplification multifunctional chip are +5V, the first amplifier M and the second amplifier N work normally, the first single-pole double-throw switch E is cut to the first amplifier M branch, the second single-pole double-throw switch F is cut to the second amplifier N branch, and the link is not connected.

[0036] The schematic diagram of the physical test in the embodiment of the application is shown in Figure 6 The model of the vector network analyzer is N5232A, the frequency is 300kHz-20GHz, and the model of the power supply is GPS-3303C.

[0037] The simulation result graph of the transmission line transmission characteristic based on the SSPPs in the embodiment of the application is shown in Figure 7As shown in the figure, it is concluded that artificial surface plasmonic transmission line is designed based on miniaturized artificial surface plasmonic unit, and the transmission line not only has the characteristics of transmission, but also has the property of out-of-band suppression.

[0038] The transmission characteristic test result graph of the bidirectional amplifier based on SSPPs in the embodiment of the application is as shown in Figure 8 As shown in the figure, it is concluded that 2-15GHz, the forward amplification link obtains 15.90-20.50dB gain, and the reverse amplification link obtains 16.78-20.46dB gain; 2-15GHz, the gain flatness of the forward amplification link is 4.60dB, and the gain flatness of the reverse amplification link is 3.68dB; 18.9-20GHz, the out-of-band suppression of the forward amplification link is more than 49.53dBc, and the out-of-band suppression of the reverse amplification link is more than 52.02dBc.

[0039] The phase test result in the embodiment of the application is as shown in Figure 9 As shown in the figure, it is concluded that 2-19.47GHz, the phase curve is not distorted.

[0040] The innovation point of the application is that the artificial surface plasmonic transmission line is integrated with a switch amplification multifunctional chip, and the forward amplification and the reverse amplification can be reconstructed by combining a micro-assembly process. The field-circuit joint simulation technology is used to simulate and verify the reconfigurable bidirectional amplifier, the leading technology is combined with engineering implementation, and the functions of low-pass filtering, bidirectional amplification and reconfigurable amplification direction are realized. The application can be applied to a transceiver system, and has important engineering implementation value.

[0041] The application further provides a transceiver system comprising the reconfigurable bidirectional amplifier based on artificial surface plasmonics.

Claims

1. A reconfigurable bidirectional amplifier based on artificial surface plasmons, characterized in that, The application discloses a switch-amplification multifunctional chip, which comprises a first artificial surface plasmon transmission line, a second artificial surface plasmon transmission line, a third artificial surface plasmon transmission line, a power-on control wire and a switch-amplification multifunctional chip loaded on a medium substrate, wherein the artificial surface plasmon transmission line comprises a microstrip line and a plurality of periodically arranged artificial surface plasmon units; the artificial surface plasmon unit comprises a top metal layer, a bottom metal ground and an intermediate dielectric layer; the top metal layer adopts an open meander line design; the first artificial surface plasmon transmission line and the second artificial surface plasmon transmission line are of the same length and contain the same number of artificial surface plasmon units; the switch-amplification multifunctional chip port comprises a port A, a port B, a port C and a port D; the port A is connected with a first SMA connector port through the first artificial surface plasmon transmission line; the port B is connected with a second SMA connector port through the second artificial surface plasmon transmission line; the port C is connected with a first power-on control port through the third artificial surface plasmon transmission line; the port D is connected with a second power-on control port through the power-on control wire; the reconfigurable bidirectional amplification function of the switch-amplification multifunctional chip is realized by controlling the power-on control voltage of the port C and the port D; meanwhile, the low-pass filtering function of the reconfigurable bidirectional amplifier is realized by using the cutoff frequency of the artificial surface plasmon unit; and the bottom metal ground adopts a large-area ground design. ​​ 2. The artificial surface plasmon based reconfigurable bidirectional amplifier of claim 1, wherein, When the port C and the port D of the switch amplification multifunctional chip are respectively powered by +5V and 0V, the forward amplification function is realized; when the port C and the port D of the switch amplification multifunctional chip are respectively powered by 0V and +5V, the reverse amplification function is realized.

3. The artificial surface plasmon based reconfigurable bidirectional amplifier of claim 1, wherein, A direct-current blocking capacitor is connected in series between the port A of the switch amplification multifunctional chip and the first artificial surface plasmonic transmission line, and between the port B of the switch amplification multifunctional chip and the second artificial surface plasmonic transmission line; a filter capacitor is connected in parallel between the port C of the switch amplification multifunctional chip and the third artificial surface plasmonic transmission line, and between the port D of the switch amplification multifunctional chip and the power-on control wire.

4. The artificial surface plasmon based reconfigurable bidirectional amplifier of claim 3, wherein, The port A and the port B of the switch amplification multifunctional chip and the corresponding direct-current blocking capacitors, the port C and the port D and the corresponding filter capacitors, the third artificial surface plasmonic transmission line and the power-on control wire and the corresponding filter capacitors are integrated through micro-assembly process bonding gold wires, and the first artificial surface plasmonic transmission line and the second artificial surface plasmonic transmission line and the corresponding direct-current blocking capacitors are respectively bonded through conductive glue.

5. The artificial surface plasmon based reconfigurable bidirectional amplifier of claim 1, wherein, By changing the bending line parameters, the dispersion curve is controlled in the microwave frequency band, the customized cutoff frequency is obtained, and the low-pass filtering function is realized.

6. The artificial surface plasmon based reconfigurable bidirectional amplifier of claim 1, wherein, The intermediate medium layer is RO4350B, the dielectric constant is 3.48, and the loss tangent is 0.0037.

7. A transceiving system characterized by, The artificial surface plasmon-based reconfigurable bidirectional amplifier of any one of claims 1-6.

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