This document describes the S-parameters simulation trials using Lumped

Ports in Comsol Multiphysics 3.5. The geometry consists of a 2 mm wide and

100 µm thick substrate with a dielectric constant of 4. Above the substrate,
there is a 1 mm high block of air (dielectric constant of 1). This block is enlarged
with 0.5 mm at the beginning and the end of the microstrip. The strip is 10 µm
thick, 1 cm long and the width is varied depending on the target impedance
(see table 1). All outer edges are perfect magnetic conductors, except for the
perfect electric conducting ground plane beneath the strip. The strip itself is
also made of perfect conductors, with a lumped port at each end. All remaining
boundaries are continuous. No loss is included in the model.

Figure 1: 3D view of the microstrip model

Table 1: Geometrical properties of the microstrip. All distances are in (µm)

Width Height Thickness Impedance (Ω )

100 100 10 70.54
200 100 10 49.27
400 100 10 31.73

The S-parameter are verified using Agilent Advanced Design System 2003C,
both with the circuit simulator and the 2.5D simulator Momentum. Figures
2, 3 and 4 show the results for the Comsol and ADS simulations. The port
impedance is 50 Ω in all cases. The results for the matched case, 50 Ω line and
50 Ω port, are deviating strongly, but the other cases show a good agreement.

1
 0 0

−0.1
−10
−0.2

−20 −0.3

−0.4
−30
|S11| (dB)

|S21| (dB)
−0.5
−40
−0.6

−50 −0.7

−0.8
−60
−0.9

−70 −1
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
f (Hz) 10
x 10 f (Hz) 10
x 10

4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1
∠S11 (rad)

∠S21 (rad)
0 0

−1 −1

−2 −2

−3 −3

−4 −4
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
f (Hz) 10
x 10 f (Hz) 10
x 10

Figure 2: S-parameters for the 30 Ω line. Full red line: Comsol; full green line:
ADS circuit; dashed green line: ADS Momentum

Another issues that has been investigated is the influence of the extra space
“behind” the port. A number of variations on the above geometry have been
tested (figure 5). First the substrate is extended, in a similar way as the air
block. The second variation also extends the strip itself, removing all discon-
tinuities around the ports. For the third variation, we return to the original
geometry, but the parts of the air block that are extended are replaced by per-
fectly matched layers. Finally, the extensions are removed, placing the ports at
the outside boundary. It is save to conclude that there is a large influence of
the surroundings of the ports.

2
 −3
x 10
−30 1

−40
0

−50
−1

−60
|S11| (dB)

|S21| (dB)
−2
−70

−3
−80

−4
−90

−100 −5
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
f (Hz) 10
x 10 f (Hz) 10
x 10

4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1
∠S11 (rad)

∠S21 (rad)
0 0

−1 −1

−2 −2

−3 −3

−4 −4
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
f (Hz) 10
x 10 f (Hz) 10
x 10

Figure 3: S-parameters for the 50 Ω line. Full red line: Comsol; Dashed red
line: Comsol with quadratic elements; full green line: ADS circuit; dashed green
line: ADS Momentum

−5 0

−10
−0.1
−15

−20 −0.2

−25
−0.3
|S11| (dB)

|S21| (dB)

−30
−0.4
−35

−40 −0.5

−45
−0.6
−50

−55 −0.7
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
f (Hz) 10
x 10 f (Hz) 10
x 10

2 4

1.5 3

1 2

0.5 1
∠S11 (rad)

∠S21 (rad)

0 0

−0.5 −1

−1 −2

−1.5 −3

−2 −4
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
f (Hz) 10
x 10 f (Hz) 10
x 10

Figure 4: S-parameters for the 70 Ω line. Full red line: Comsol; full green line:
ADS circuit; dashed green line: ADS Momentum

3
 −10 0

−0.2
−20
−0.4

−30 −0.6
|S21| (dB)
|S11| (dB)

−0.8
−40
−1

−50 −1.2

air −1.4
−60 substr
strip
−1.6
PML
PMC
−70 −1.8
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
f (Hz) x 10
10 f (Hz) 10
x 10

4 3

3 2

2
1

1
∠S11 (rad)

∠S21 (rad)

0
0
−1
−1

−2
−2

−3 −3

−4 −4
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
f (Hz) x 10
10 f (Hz) 10
x 10

Figure 5: S-parameters for the various boundary cases. Red: Extended air
block; Blue: extended air and substrate; Cyan: extended air, substrate and strip;
Magenta: perfectly matched layers; Green: No extension, ports at the outer
boundary