阅读说明：本技术 波导管 (Waveguide tube ) 是由 高桥裕之 平野聪 森奈绪子 青木生朗 安达拓也 于 2019-09-11 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明提供一种具有能够缓和阻抗的急剧的变化的供电构造并且能够在制作时防止电介质基板的翘曲、裂缝、填充不良等不良的波导管。波导管具有电介质基板(10)、形成于其下表面的第1导体层(11)和形成于其上表面的第2导体层(12)、构成波导管的两侧的侧壁的1对侧壁部(13)以及向波导管供给输入信号的供电部(15)。供电部构成为,包括形成于电介质基板的下表面并且不与第1导体层相接触的供电端子(20)、下端与供电端子相连接的1个或多个第1通路导体(30)、与第1通路导体各自的上端相连接的第1连接焊盘(21)以及下端与第1连接焊盘相连接的多个第2通路导体(31),多个第2通路导体的截面积的总和大于1个或多个第1通路导体的截面积的总和。(The invention provides a waveguide having a power supply structure capable of alleviating a rapid change in impedance and capable of preventing defects such as warpage, cracks, and poor filling of a dielectric substrate during fabrication. The waveguide comprises a dielectric substrate (10), a 1 st conductor layer (11) formed on the lower surface thereof, a 2 nd conductor layer (12) formed on the upper surface thereof, 1 pair of side walls (13) constituting the side walls on both sides of the waveguide, and a power supply unit (15) for supplying an input signal to the waveguide. The power supply unit is configured to include a power supply terminal (20) formed on the lower surface of the dielectric substrate and not in contact with the 1 st conductor layer, 1 or more 1 st via conductors (30) having lower ends connected to the power supply terminal, a 1 st connection pad (21) connected to an upper end of each of the 1 st via conductors, and a plurality of 2 nd via conductors (31) having lower ends connected to the 1 st connection pad, and the sum of the cross-sectional areas of the plurality of 2 nd via conductors is larger than the sum of the cross-sectional areas of the 1 or more 1 st via conductors.)

1. A waveguide formed using a dielectric substrate in which a plurality of dielectric layers are stacked, characterized in that,

the waveguide has:

a 1 st conductor layer, the 1 st conductor layer being formed on a lower surface of the dielectric substrate;

a 2 nd conductor layer formed on the upper surface of the dielectric substrate;

1 pair of side wall portions that electrically connect the 1 st conductor layer and the 2 nd conductor layer and constitute side walls on both sides of the waveguide; and

a power supply unit that supplies an input signal to the waveguide,

the power supply unit includes:

a power supply terminal formed on the lower surface of the dielectric substrate and not in contact with the 1 st conductor layer;

1 or more 1 st via conductors, each lower end of the 1 or more 1 st via conductors being connected to the power supply terminal;

a 1 st connection pad connected to respective upper ends of the 1 st or more via conductors; and

a plurality of 2 nd via conductors each having a lower end connected to the 1 st connection pad,

a sum of cross-sectional areas of the plurality of 2 nd via conductors along the lower surface of the dielectric substrate is greater than a sum of cross-sectional areas of the 1 or more 1 st via conductors along the lower surface of the dielectric substrate.

2. The waveguide of claim 1,

the number of the plurality of 2 nd via conductors is larger than the number of the 1 or more 1 st via conductors.

3. The waveguide of claim 1 or 2,

the plurality of 2 nd via conductors are arranged at intervals of 1/2 or less of the cutoff wavelength.

4. The waveguide of claim 3,

the plurality of 2 nd via conductors are arranged on a circumference in a plane of the 1 st connection pad.

5. The waveguide according to any one of claims 1 to 4,

the 1 or more 1 st via conductors and the 2 nd via conductors are all cylindrical conductors of the same diameter.

6. The waveguide according to any one of claims 1 to 5,

the feeding portion is further configured such that a 2 nd connection pad and a plurality of 3 rd via conductors are alternately connected to upper portions of the plurality of 2 nd via conductors along a height direction of the dielectric substrate,

the sum of the cross-sectional areas of the plurality of via conductors including the 1 or more 1 st via conductors, the plurality of 2 nd via conductors, and the plurality of 3 rd via conductors along the lower surface of the dielectric substrate increases in order toward the upper portion in the height direction.

7. The waveguide of claim 6,

the number of the plurality of via conductors increases in order toward the upper portion in the height direction.

8. The waveguide of claim 6 or 7,

the plurality of 3 rd via conductors each having a lower end connected to the common 2 nd connection pad are arranged at intervals of 1/2 or less of the cutoff wavelength.

9. The waveguide of claim 8,

the plurality of 3 rd via conductors each having a lower end connected to the common 2 nd connection pad are arranged on a circumference in a plane of the 2 nd connection pad.

10. The waveguide according to any one of claims 6 to 9,

all of the plurality of via conductors are cylindrical conductors of the same diameter.

11. The waveguide according to any one of claims 6 to 10,

in a plan view seen from the height direction, all the connection pads including the 1 st connection pad and the 2 nd connection pad are formed in a circular shape having the same diameter and arranged at the same position.

12. The waveguide according to any one of claims 1 to 11,

the 1-pair side wall portions include a plurality of via conductors for side walls, and the 1 st conductor layer and the 2 nd conductor layer are connected to each other by the plurality of via conductors for side walls.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a waveguide formed using a dielectric substrate in which a plurality of dielectric layers are stacked.

Background

Conventionally, in wireless communication using a high-frequency signal in a microwave band or a millimeter wave band, a waveguide for transmitting the high-frequency signal supplied from a power supply unit is known. In recent years, in view of the reduction in size and weight and the ease of processing of waveguides, a waveguide configured using a dielectric substrate in which a plurality of dielectric layers are stacked has been used. Such a waveguide has a structure in which, for example, upper and lower conductor layers and a group of via conductors on side surfaces are formed so as to surround a dielectric substrate, and a power feeding portion is formed at a predetermined position of the waveguide. In order to realize a good transmission characteristic of the waveguide, it is necessary to suppress impedance mismatch from the power supply terminal of the power supply portion to the inside of the waveguide as much as possible. Therefore, a power feeding structure has been proposed in which the diameter of a via conductor used for a power feeding portion formed in a waveguide is changed stepwise or continuously (see, for example, patent document 1).

Documents of the prior art

Patent document

Patent document 1: japanese patent No. 3464108

Disclosure of Invention

Invention of the inventionProblems to be solved

According to the power feeding structure disclosed in patent document 1 (for example, see fig. 1), the diameter of the power feeding via conductor formed in the waveguide is the thinnest on the side connected to an external line or the like, and the diameter thereof gradually increases toward the inside of the waveguide. In this case, in order to sufficiently alleviate a sudden change in impedance, the ratio of the maximum diameter to the minimum diameter of the power supply via conductor has to be increased. In order to fabricate a waveguide having the above-described power feeding structure using a dielectric substrate, a general procedure is to, for example, punch via holes at the positions of power feeding via conductors of a plurality of ceramic green sheets, fill the via holes with a conductive paste of a metal, laminate the via holes, and then fire the via holes.

However, if the diameter of the power supply via conductor is too large, there is a possibility that the dielectric substrate will warp and cracks in the vicinity of the power supply via conductor may occur due to the difference in thermal expansion coefficient between the ceramic and the conductive paste during firing. On the contrary, even if the maximum diameter of the power feeding via conductor is suppressed to such an extent that the above-mentioned warpage and cracks can be prevented while keeping the above-mentioned ratio, the minimum diameter of the power feeding via conductor is excessively small, and therefore, there is a possibility that a filling failure occurs when the conductive paste is filled into the through hole in this portion. In short, the range of the diameter of the power feeding via conductor is subject to various manufacturing constraints, and it is difficult to set the dimensional conditions suitable for impedance matching.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and provides a waveguide having a power feeding structure suitable for impedance matching and capable of effectively preventing problems such as warpage, cracks, and poor filling, which are problematic in manufacturing.

Means for solving the problems

In order to solve the above problem, the present invention is a waveguide including a dielectric substrate (10) in which a plurality of dielectric layers are stacked, the waveguide including: a 1 st conductor layer (11), wherein the 1 st conductor layer (11) is formed on the lower surface of the dielectric substrate; a 2 nd conductor layer (12), the 2 nd conductor layer (12) being formed on the upper surface of the dielectric substrate; a pair of 1 side wall parts (13), wherein the pair of 1 side wall parts (13) electrically connects the 1 st conductor layer and the 2 nd conductor layer and forms side walls of two sides of the waveguide; and a power supply unit (15), wherein the power supply unit (15) supplies an input signal to the waveguide. The power supply unit includes: a power supply terminal (20), wherein the power supply terminal (20) is formed on the lower surface of the dielectric substrate and is not in contact with the 1 st conductor layer; 1 or more 1 st via conductors (30), the 1 or more 1 st via conductors (30) each having a lower end connected to the power supply terminal; a 1 st connection pad (21), the 1 st connection pad (21) being connected to respective upper ends of the 1 or more 1 st via conductors; and a plurality of 2 nd via conductors (31), lower ends of the plurality of 2 nd via conductors (31) being connected to the 1 st connection pad, a sum of cross-sectional areas of the plurality of 2 nd via conductors along a lower surface (XY plane) of the dielectric substrate being larger than a sum of cross-sectional areas of the 1 or more 1 st via conductors along the lower surface of the dielectric substrate.

According to the waveguide of the present invention, the power supply portion that supplies the input signal to the waveguide constituted using the dielectric substrate has at least a structure in which the power supply terminal, 1 or more 1 st via conductors, the 1 st connection pad, and the 2 nd via conductors are connected in this order from the lower surface side of the dielectric substrate, and the sum of the sectional areas of the plurality of 2 nd via conductors in the upper portion along the lower surface of the dielectric substrate is larger than the 1 or more 1 st via conductors closer to the power supply terminal. According to such a power feeding structure, if the number of the 1 st via conductor and the 2 nd via conductor is appropriately adjusted, a rapid change in impedance can be alleviated without increasing the ratio of the diameters of the respective conductors, and sufficient impedance matching can be achieved. Further, since it is not necessary to extremely increase or decrease the diameter of each via conductor, warpage and cracks of the dielectric substrate due to a difference in thermal expansion coefficient caused by an excessively large diameter of the via conductor at the time of manufacturing the waveguide can be prevented, and a filling failure of the conductive paste caused by an excessively small diameter of the via conductor can be prevented.

In the power feeding unit of the present invention, the number of the plurality of 2 nd via conductors can be set to be larger than the number of 1 or more 1 st via conductors. Thus, the sum of the sectional areas of the plurality of 2 nd via conductors can be easily set larger than 1 or more 1 st via conductors. In this case, 1 or more of the 1 st via conductors and 2 nd via conductors may be formed of cylindrical conductors having the same diameter.

In the power feeding unit of the present invention, it is desirable that the plurality of 2 nd-path conductors are arranged at intervals of 1/2 or less of the cutoff wavelength. In this case, the plurality of 2 nd via conductors may be arranged on, for example, a circumference in the plane of the 1 st connection pad.

The power feeding portion of the present invention may be configured such that a 2 nd connection pad and a plurality of 3 rd via conductors are alternately connected to the upper portions of the plurality of 2 nd via conductors along the height direction of the dielectric substrate, and the sum of the cross-sectional areas of the plurality of via conductors including 1 or a plurality of 1 st via conductors, a plurality of 2 nd via conductors, and a plurality of 3 rd via conductors along the lower surface of the dielectric substrate increases in order toward the upper portion in the height direction. Therefore, the total of the cross-sectional areas can be easily adjusted in accordance with the setting of the number of the plurality of via conductors in each layer, and the like, and a sudden change in the impedance from the power supply portion to the inside of the waveguide can be reliably alleviated.

In the power feeding portion of the present invention, in the configuration in which the 2 nd connection pad and the 3 rd via conductor are alternately connected, the number of the plurality of via conductors may be set to increase sequentially as going to the upper portion in the height direction. In this case, all the via conductors may be formed of a cylindrical conductor having the same diameter. In addition, it is desirable that the plurality of 3 rd via conductors each having a lower end connected to the common 2 nd connection pad be arranged at intervals of 1/2 or less of the cutoff wavelength, and in this case, the plurality of 3 rd via conductors may be arranged on the circumference in the plane of the 2 nd connection pad. In addition, in a plan view viewed from the height direction, all the connection pads including the 1 st connection pad and the 2 nd connection pad may be formed in a circular shape having the same diameter and arranged at the same position.

The 1-pair side wall portions of the present invention can be configured using a plurality of via conductors for side wall that connect the 1 st conductor layer and the 2 nd conductor layer, respectively. Thus, the plurality of via conductors included in the power supply portion and the plurality of via conductors for side walls included in 1 pair of side wall portions can be formed in the same manner, and the manufacturing efficiency of the waveguide can be improved.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF INVENTION

According to the present invention, the power supply portion is structured such that 1 or more 1 st via conductors connected to the upper surface of the power supply terminal and a plurality of 2 nd via conductors connected to the 1 st connection pad are connected in this order, and the sum of the cross-sectional areas of the plurality of 2 nd via conductors is larger than that of the 1 or more 1 st via conductors, and therefore, by appropriately adjusting the number of each via conductor, it is possible to alleviate a sudden change in impedance from the power supply terminal to the inside of the waveguide without extremely increasing or decreasing the via diameter. Further, when the waveguide is manufactured, warpage and cracks of the dielectric substrate due to an excessively large diameter of the via conductor can be prevented, and filling defects due to an excessively small diameter of the via conductor can also be prevented, so that a waveguide in which impedance matching is sufficiently performed and good transmission characteristics are obtained can be realized without impairing reliability at the time of manufacturing.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a view showing a structural example of a waveguide to which the present invention is applied, fig. 1 (a) is a plan view of the waveguide as viewed from above, fig. 1 (B) is a cross-sectional view of the waveguide of fig. 1 (a) taken along a line a-a, and fig. 1 (C) is a bottom view of the waveguide of fig. 1 (a) as viewed from below.

Fig. 2 (a) is a side view showing the power supply portion 15 in an enlarged manner in the structure of the power supply portion 15 in fig. 1, and fig. 2 (B) is a plan view of the connection pads 21 and 22 in the structure of the power supply portion 15 in fig. 1 viewed from the Z direction.

Fig. 3 is a diagram showing a modification of the number of via conductors 31 of the power feeding unit 15.

Fig. 4 is a diagram showing a modification of the structure of the upper portion of the power supply unit 15.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing a modification example of the diameter of the via conductor included in the power supply unit 15.

Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating an outline of a method of manufacturing a waveguide according to the present embodiment.

Fig. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a cross-sectional structure of a conventional power supply unit 50 for comparison with the present embodiment.

Fig. 8 is a diagram illustrating frequency characteristics obtained by simulation in the waveguide according to the present embodiment, in comparison with a waveguide having a conventional power supply unit 50.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a waveguide to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the embodiment described below is an example of a mode for embodying the technical idea of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the contents of the embodiment.

First, a structural example of a waveguide to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to fig. 1. Fig. 1 (a) is a plan view of the waveguide according to the present embodiment as viewed from above, fig. 1 (B) is a cross-sectional view of the waveguide of fig. 1 (a) taken along a line a-a, and fig. 1 (C) is a bottom view of the waveguide of fig. 1 (a) as viewed from below. In fig. 1, for convenience of explanation, the X direction (the tube axis direction of the waveguide), the Y direction, and the Z direction, which are perpendicular to each other, are indicated by arrows.

The waveguide shown in fig. 1 includes a dielectric substrate 10 made of a dielectric material such as ceramic, a conductor layer 11 made of a conductive material (the 1 st conductor layer of the present invention) formed on the lower surface of the dielectric substrate 10, a conductor layer 12 made of a conductive material (the 2 nd conductor layer of the present invention) formed on the upper surface of the dielectric substrate 10, a plurality of via conductors 13 (the via conductors for the sidewall of the present invention) connecting the upper and lower conductor layers 11 and 12, two slots 14 formed in the conductor layer 12 on the upper surface, and a feeding portion 15 formed in a region below the waveguide.

The dielectric substrate 10 is formed by laminating a plurality of dielectric layers, and has an outer shape of a rectangular parallelepiped whose longitudinal direction is the X direction. The upper and lower sides (both sides in the Z direction) of the periphery of the dielectric substrate 10 are covered with the above-described 1 pair of conductor layers 11, 12, and 4 sides in the XY plane are surrounded by the above-described plurality of via conductors 13. According to such a structure, the dielectric substrate 10 functions as a waveguide surrounded by a conductor wall including the 1 pair of conductor layers 11 and 12 and the plurality of via conductors 13. The waveguide transmits a signal in the X direction, which is the tube axis direction, and has a rectangular cross section (YZ cross section) having a height a in the Z direction and a width B in the Y direction, as shown in fig. 1 (a) and 1 (B). The relation of b ≈ 2a is generally set, and by such setting, it is possible to propagate TE10 in which the upper and lower surfaces of the waveguide are H-surfaces as a main mode.

Each of the plurality of via conductors 13 is a columnar conductor formed by filling a conductive material into a plurality of through holes penetrating the dielectric substrate 10, and each of the plurality of via conductors 13 electrically connects the upper and lower conductor layers 11 and 12. The plurality of via conductors 13 are set such that the interval between adjacent via conductors 13 is equal to or less than 1/2 of the cutoff wavelength of the waveguide. The plurality of via conductors 13 (1 pair of side wall portions of the present invention) arranged in 2 rows along the X direction constitute side walls opposed in the Y direction in the waveguide, and the plurality of via conductors 13 arranged in 2 rows along the Y direction constitute 1 pair of end faces opposed in the X direction in the waveguide. The plurality of via conductors 13 are not exposed to the outside, and the outer peripheries thereof are covered with the dielectric substrate 10.

In the example of fig. 1, the structure in which the plurality of via conductors 13 are divided into 4 sides as viewed in the Z direction of the waveguide is shown, but in reality, such a structure may be adopted that: only two sides of the plurality of via conductors 13 corresponding to the side walls on the opposite sides in the Y direction are divided. Instead of the plurality of via conductors 13, sidewalls made of a conductive material may be formed on each of 4 sides or two sides of the outer periphery of the dielectric substrate 10.

The two slots 14 are arranged at predetermined positions on the upper conductor layer 12 at predetermined intervals, and function as antennas of waveguides. At the position of each slit 14, the conductor layer 12 is opened, and the lower dielectric substrate 10 is partially exposed. In the example of fig. 1, two slits 14 having the same length in the X direction and the same width in the Y direction are arranged in parallel at positions offset from the center position in the Y direction. The length of the slit 14 in the X direction is set as appropriate in accordance with the desired frequency characteristics. In fig. 1, a configuration in which the slot 14 is provided in the waveguide is shown, but the present invention can also be applied to a waveguide not provided with the slot 14.

The power supply unit 15 has a function of supplying an input signal from the outside to the waveguide. The structure of the power supply unit 15 will be described in detail below with reference to fig. 2. Fig. 2 (a) is an enlarged side view showing the power supply portion 15 of fig. 1 (B), and fig. 2 (B) is a plan view of the connection pads 21 and 22 in the power supply portion 15 viewed from the Z direction. In fig. 2 (B), the 1 via conductor 30 directly below the connection pad 21 and the 4 via conductors 31 directly below the connection pad 22 are shown in a perspective view.

As shown in fig. 2, the power supply portion 15 of the present embodiment is configured by a power supply terminal 20 including a conductor pattern formed on the same plane as the conductor layer 11, a connection pad 21 (1 st connection pad of the present invention) disposed above the power supply terminal 20, a connection pad 22 (2 nd connection pad of the present invention) disposed above the connection pad 21, 1 via conductor 30 (1 or more 1 st via conductors of the present invention) electrically connecting the power supply terminal 20 and the connection pad 21, and 4 via conductors 31 (multiple 2 nd via conductors of the present invention) electrically connecting the connection pad 21 and the connection pad 22.

As shown in fig. 1C, the power supply terminal 20 at the lower end of the power supply portion 15 is separated (not in contact) from the surrounding conductor layer 11 and has an outer shape whose longitudinal direction is the X direction. One end of a line for transmitting an input signal generated by an electronic circuit or the like is connected to the power supply terminal 20. The lower ends of 1 via conductor 30 are connected to the upper surface of the power supply terminal 20. The via conductor 30 is formed through the lower 3 dielectric layers of the dielectric substrate 10, and the upper end thereof is connected to the connection pad 21. The lower end of each via conductor 31 of the 4 via conductors 31 is connected to the upper surface of the connection pad 21. The 4 via conductors 31 are formed through the dielectric layer at predetermined positions in the dielectric substrate 10, and the upper end of each via conductor 31 of the 4 via conductors 31 is connected to the connection pad 22. Therefore, the input signal supplied to the waveguide via the power supply unit 15 is transmitted inside the waveguide via the power supply terminal 20, 1 via conductor 30, the connection pad 21, 4 via conductors 31, and the connection pad 22 in this order.

As shown in fig. 2 (B), the connection pads 21 and 22 have circular shapes having the same diameter and the same position in a plan view from the Z direction. The 1 via conductor 30 is located at the center of the circle in the plane of the connection pad 21. On the other hand, the 4 via conductors 31 are arranged in a circumferential shape surrounding the center of the circle in the surface of the connection pad 22. Similarly to the plurality of via conductors 13 (fig. 1) constituting the side walls, the 4 via conductors 31 are set so that the interval between adjacent via conductors 31 is 1/2 or less of the cutoff wavelength. All of the 5 via conductors 30 and 31 included in the feeding portion 15 have a circular cross section with the same diameter in the XY plane. Therefore, the total of the cross-sectional areas in the XY plane of the upper 4 via conductors 31 is 4 times the cross-sectional area in the XY plane of the lower 1 via conductor 30.

The power supply unit 15 having the above-described structure has a function of suppressing impedance mismatch when a signal is supplied to the waveguide via the power supply unit 15. In other words, the impedance of the external conductor such as a line connected to the power supply terminal 20 of the power supply unit 15 is about 50 Ω, whereas the impedance of the waveguide depends on the dielectric constant of the dielectric substrate 10, but the impedance of the waveguide has a large value of at least about 100 to 200 Ω. Therefore, in general, impedance mismatch occurs via the power feeding unit 15, and there is a possibility that the transmission characteristics of the waveguide deteriorate due to reflection of a signal or the like. On the other hand, since the power feeding portion 15 of the present embodiment has a structure in which the cross-sectional area is small in the vicinity of the external conductor and is large in the internal cross-sectional area of the waveguide, it is possible to alleviate a rapid change in impedance and reliably realize impedance matching. The power feeding unit 15 of the present embodiment is advantageous in preventing a defect due to a manufacturing process of a waveguide including the dielectric substrate 10, as compared with a conventional power feeding structure (for example, the power feeding structure of patent document 1), and the detailed description thereof will be described later.

The power supply unit 15 of the present embodiment is not limited to the structure shown in fig. 1 and 2, and various modifications are possible on the premise that the effects of the present invention are obtained. First, in the power supply portion 15 shown in fig. 1 and 2, even in a structure in which the uppermost connection pad 22 is not provided, the above-described operational effects can be substantially achieved. However, in the manufacturing process of the waveguide, the upper ends of the plurality of via conductors 31 are connected to a certain connection pad in a normal structure, and therefore, the connection pad 22 is provided. In addition, although the power feeding portion 15 shown in fig. 1 and 2 has a structure in which only 1 via conductor 30 is provided in the lower portion, the present invention can be applied to a structure in which a plurality of via conductors 30 are provided in the lower portion as long as the sum of the sectional areas is smaller than the sum of the sectional areas of a plurality of via conductors 31 in the upper portion. As described above, the power supply portion 15 to which the present invention can be applied can be realized as long as it has the power supply terminal 20, 1 or more via conductors 30, the connection pad 21, and the plurality of via conductors 31.

A representative modification of power supply unit 15 according to the present embodiment will be described below with reference to fig. 3 to 5. Fig. 3 to 5 show a side view corresponding to fig. 2 (a) and a plan view corresponding to fig. 2 (B), respectively, for explanation. First, fig. 3 shows a modification example of the number of via conductors 31 of the power feeding unit 15. In the present modification, the 4 via conductors 31 in fig. 2 (B) are replaced with 6 via conductors 31 as shown in fig. 3 (B). The 6 via conductors 31 are arranged in a circumferential shape surrounding the center of the circle in the surface of the connection pad 21. In the present embodiment, the number of via conductors 30 and 31 can be appropriately determined according to the characteristics of the impedance of power feeding unit 15. In this case, the number of the plurality of via conductors 30 and 31 in each stage generally increases toward the upper portion in the Z direction, but it is also conceivable that the number does not increase as the total of the cross-sectional areas increases.

Fig. 4 shows a modification of the structure of the upper part of the power supply unit 15. In the present modification, the lower end of each via conductor 32 of the 8 via conductors 32 (a plurality of 3 rd via conductors of the present invention) of fig. 4 (B) is connected to the upper surface of the connection pad 22 of fig. 2, and the upper end of each via conductor 32 of the 8 via conductors 32 is also connected to the connection pad 23 (the 2 nd connection pad of the present invention). In the example of fig. 4, the connection pad 23 has a circular shape having the same diameter and the same position as the connection pads 21 and 22 below in a plan view seen from the Z direction, and 8 via conductors 32 are arranged in a circular shape surrounding the center of the circular shape in the plane of the connection pad 22.

A plurality of via conductors and connection pads may be alternately connected to the upper portion of the connection pad 23, which is not shown in fig. 4. That is, the present invention can be applied to a structure in which a plurality of via conductors and connection pads are arranged in a predetermined number of stages on the upper portion of the power supply terminal 20 within the structure of the power supply portion 15. In this case, the sum of the cross-sectional areas of the plurality of via conductors in each stage needs to be increased toward the upper portion in the Z direction. In the example of fig. 4, the connection pads 21 to 23 are formed in the shape of circles having the same diameter and the same position, but the connection pads of the respective stages may have different shapes and different positions. The arrangement of the plurality of via conductors in each stage is not limited to the circumferential shape, and may be arranged in various shapes. The height (length in the Z direction) of 1 or more via conductors in each stage is not limited to the examples of fig. 2 to 5, and can be appropriately determined according to the characteristics of the impedance of power supply unit 15.

Fig. 5 shows a modification of the diameter of the via conductor included in the power supply portion 15. In the present modification, as shown in fig. 5 (B), 1 via conductor 30 of fig. 2 (B) is replaced with 1 via conductor 30a having a smaller diameter, and 4 via conductors 31 of fig. 2 (B) are replaced with 4 via conductors 31a having a larger diameter. That is, the plurality of via conductors included in the power feeding portion 15 are not limited to the same diameter, and via conductors having different diameters may be mixed. However, considering the problem of manufacturing a waveguide as described later, the diameter of the via conductor is limited to a range of 50 μm to 200 μm, and it is desirable to minimize the difference in diameter between the via conductors within this range. Further, it is also conceivable that the diameter of the via conductor becomes smaller in the upper portion in the Z direction, but the sum of the cross-sectional areas of the plurality of via conductors in each stage needs to be increased toward the upper portion in the Z direction, similarly to the above.

Next, an outline of a method of manufacturing a waveguide according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to fig. 6. Fig. 6 shows a cross-sectional structure of only a left region in the X direction in the structure of fig. 1. First, as a plurality of dielectric layers constituting the dielectric substrate 10, for example, a plurality of ceramic green sheets 40 for low-temperature firing formed by the doctor blade method are prepared. Here, 8 ceramic green sheets 40 are used corresponding to fig. 1 (B). Then, as shown in fig. 6 (a), punching is performed at predetermined positions of each ceramic green sheet 40 to open via holes 41 corresponding to the plurality of via conductors 13 for the side wall and via holes 42 and 43 corresponding to the plurality of via conductors 30 and 31 for the power feeding portion 15, respectively. Note that the via holes 41 for the side walls are arranged on 4 sides of the waveguide in a plan view, which is not shown in fig. 6.

Next, as shown in fig. 6 (B), conductive pastes containing Cu are filled into the plurality of via holes 41, 42, and 43 opened in the respective ceramic green sheets 40 by screen printing, thereby forming the plurality of via conductors 13 for the side walls and the plurality of via conductors 30 and 31 of the power feeding portion 15, respectively. Next, as shown in fig. 6 (C), the conductive pastes described above are applied by screen printing to the upper surface of the uppermost ceramic green sheet 40, the lower surface of the lowermost ceramic green sheet 40, and the upper surface of the ceramic green sheet 40 at a predetermined position, thereby forming the upper and lower conductor layers 11 and 12, the power supply terminals 20, and the connection pads 21 and 22, respectively.

Then, the plurality of ceramic green sheets 40 subjected to the above-described processing are sequentially stacked, and then heated and pressed to form a stacked body. Then, the obtained laminate was degreased and fired, thereby completing a waveguide including the dielectric substrate 10 having the structure shown in fig. 1.

Here, effects obtained in the manufacturing process described in fig. 6 by adopting the structure of the power supply unit 15 of the present embodiment will be described. Fig. 7 shows an example of a cross-sectional structure of a conventional power supply unit 50 for comparison with the present embodiment (see, for example, fig. 2 of patent document 1). Unlike the power supply portion 15 of fig. 2 (a) of the present embodiment, the power supply portion 50 of fig. 7 has a diameter of the via conductor 51 connected to the power supply terminal which increases stepwise upward in order to alleviate a sudden change in impedance. For example, the diameter is increased by several times or so at the upper end 51b of the via conductor 51 as compared with the lower end 51a of the via conductor 51.

For example, it is assumed that the upper end portion 51B of the via conductor 51 in fig. 7 is formed by the same method as in fig. 6 (B). In this case, when the conductive paste is filled into the via hole corresponding to the upper end portion 51b and fired after the laminate is formed, the thermal stress is applied to the vicinity of the upper end portion 51b because the thermal expansion coefficient of the metal conductive paste is different from that of the surrounding ceramic green sheet 40. At this time, although no problem occurs if the diameter of the via conductors 30 and 31 is small as in the present embodiment, the influence of thermal stress is strong because the diameter of the upper end portion 51b in fig. 7 is large, and the possibility of local occurrence of warpage and cracks in the laminated substrate becomes high.

On the other hand, in order to avoid the above problem, the diameter of the via conductor 51 may be reduced as a whole at the same ratio so that the diameter of the upper end portion 51b is reduced to some extent. However, in this case, since the diameter of the lower end portion 51a is further reduced, when the conductive paste is filled into the lower end portion 51a, a filling failure is likely to occur, and there is a possibility that an incomplete via conductor 51 is formed. As described above, the conventional power supply unit 50 has various problems associated with the manufacture of the waveguide, and cannot ensure reliability, whereas the power supply unit 15 of the present embodiment can ensure high reliability without such problems.

Next, the frequency characteristics obtained by simulation will be described with respect to the waveguide of the present embodiment. Fig. 8 schematically shows the frequency characteristics (change in reflection coefficient S11 in a predetermined frequency range) of the waveguide having the power supply unit 15 described in the present embodiment and the frequency characteristics of the waveguide having the conventional power supply unit 50 of fig. 7 in a superimposed manner. In the simulation of fig. 8, the frequency range is 27GHz to 29GHz, the dimensions of fig. 1 are a 1.6mm and b 3.2mm, the relative permittivity of the dielectric substrate 10 is ∈ r 5.8, the dielectric loss is tan δ 0.0022, and the conductor layers 11 and 12, the via conductor 13, and the power feeding portions 15 and 50 are assumed to be complete conductors. Further, the diameter of the via conductors 30 and 31 of the feeding portion 15 of the present embodiment is set to 0.1mm, the minimum via pitch of the via conductors 13 is set to 0.2mm, and the diameter of the via conductor 51 of the feeding portion 50 of the conventional type is set to 0.1mm, 0.2mm, 0.3mm, and 0.4mm in order from the lower layer side, and simulation is performed.

As shown in fig. 8, it is understood that the frequency characteristic of the present embodiment has an attenuation pole in the vicinity of the frequency of 28GHz, and a sufficiently wide frequency band can be obtained. On the other hand, in the case of the conventional structure, the frequency characteristic has an attenuation pole at a frequency slightly lower than the frequency 28GHz, and the frequency band is narrower than that of the present embodiment. Thus, by adopting the structure of the power supply unit 15 of the present embodiment, a wide frequency band of the frequency characteristic can be achieved.

The present invention has been described specifically based on the present embodiment, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. That is, the structure of the waveguide and the structure of the power feeding portion 15 according to the present embodiment are not limited to the structural examples described in fig. 1 to 5, and the present invention can be widely applied to various waveguides using other structures and materials as long as the operational effects of the present invention can be obtained. The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and other aspects may be modified as appropriate without being limited to the disclosure of the above embodiments as long as the effects of the present invention can be obtained.

Description of reference numerals

10. A dielectric substrate; 11. 12, a conductor layer; 13. via conductors (for side walls); 14. a gap; 15. a power supply unit; 20. a power supply terminal; 21. 22, 23, connection pads; 30. 31, 32, via conductors; 40. a ceramic green sheet; 41. 42, 43, via holes.