ANALYSIS OF MICROWAVE PROPAGATION EFFECTS USING 2-DIMENSIONAL ELECTROOPTIC FIELD-MAPPING TECHNIQUES

In high-speed electronic devices and monolithic microwave and millimet rewave integrated circuits the propagation of electromagnetic waves pl ays an important role. In so-called travelling wave devices and circui ts these propagation effects are applied to design and realize functio ns not available in lumped elements. In order to exploit fully the pot ential of wave propagation effects, experimental investigations have t o be carried out which, however, require a measurement technique to al low spatially resolved detection of microwave potential or field distr ibutions inside elements and circuits and along the electrical interco nnects. In this paper, it is shown by several examples, that the two-d imensional electrooptic field mapping technique is an excellent tool t o study wave propagation effects up to millimetrewave frequencies, wit h submicrometre spatial resolution and without electromagnetic interfe rence.