Pattern Distributed Pins in Half-mode Groove Gap Waveguide for Stable Performance and Low Cost

In this paper, a new concept of pattern distributed pin structure is proposed to improve the stability of the phase performance when there is a misalignment in a half-mode groove gap waveguide (HM-GGW) and therefore reduce the manufacture cost. To demonstrate the advantages of the pattern distributed pin structure, a non-collinear pin pattern and a rotated pin pattern are proposed and applied to a straight HM- GGW and a 90-deg bend HM-GGW. The dispersion diagram and simulation results show that the pattern distributed pin structure has a similar stop-band characteristics as the standard pin structure with much less sensitivity to misalignments between the upper pins and the lower wave-guiding structure. By applying a proper pattern distributed pin structure, a larger flexibility is obtained in design of GW devices and the manufacture cost can be reduced significantly.