Matching impedance of a dielectric waveguide to a launching mechanism
A digital system has a dielectric core waveguide that has a longitudinal dielectric core member. The core member has a body portion and a transition region, with a cladding surrounding the dielectric core member. The body portion of the core member has a first dielectric constant. The transition region of the core member has a graduated dielectric constant value that gradually changes from the first dielectric constant value adjacent the body portion to a third dielectric constant.
1. A digital system comprising a dielectric core waveguide, wherein the waveguide comprises:
a longitudinal dielectric core member, wherein the core member comprises a body portion and a transition region;
a cladding surrounding the dielectric core member;
wherein the body portion of the core member has a first impedance; and
wherein the transition region of the core member has a graduated impedance value that gradually changes from the first impedance adjacent the body portion to a second impedance;
further comprising a substrate having a surface, wherein the waveguide is formed on the surface of the substrate, wherein the waveguide comprises:
a conformal base layer formed on the surface of the substrate; and
two spaced apart sidewalls and a conformal top layer connected to the base layer to form a longitudinal core region.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the conformal base layer extends beyond the sidewalls.
3. The digital system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a transmitting device mounted on the surface of the substrate being coupled to the waveguide and operable to launch a radio frequency (RF) signal into the waveguide; and
a receiving device mounted on the surface of the substrate being coupled to the waveguide and operable to receive a portion of the RF signal from the waveguide.
4. A method for forming a waveguide, the method comprising:
forming a conformal base layer for the waveguide on a surface of a substrate;
forming a body portion having a first dielectric of an elongated core for the waveguide on the base layer;
forming a transition core region of the elongated core adjacent the body portion having a graduated impedance that gradually changes from the first impedance adjacent the body portion to a second impedance; and
forming sidewalls and a conformal top layer surrounding the elongated core region and in contact with the base layer;
wherein the base layer, the sidewalls, and the top layer are formed by three dimensional printing onto the surface of the substrate.