Compact and Integrated Circulators

As the name suggests, compact and integrated circulators are circulators that have been designed in smaller sizes to ensure that they can be integrated into large-scale circuits. Here is a picture of a compact and integrated circulator that is used in industrial circuits.

Compact Circulators

Compact circulators are designed by the simple process of miniaturization. They are designed using technologies like miniaturized ferrite materials, compact waveguide structures, or surface-mount technology to ensure that they occupy less space without letting their performance be affected. It is necessary to ensure that these devices generate accurate outputs therefore, efficient techniques like microfabrication or precision machining are used for designing them.

Integrated Circulators

After a compact circulator is designed, it is important to integrate it into a larger circuit using different fabrication techniques. Integration is done to eliminate the need for any separate packing of the circulator. Integration is done by efficiently using the space available on the substrate which results in monolithic structures. Some devices that use integrated circulators include amplifiers, filters, or antennas, to form highly integrated RF/microwave modules.

Circulator

Circulators are important devices used in microwave engineering to deal with devices that use electromagnetic or radio waves. You might have heard of the non-metallic ferrite substances that are very popular due to their magnetic properties. In this article, we will discuss one such substance that uses ferrite material i.e. a circulator. We will study what is a circulator and what are the principles of operation of a circulator.

In this article, we will through what a microwave circulator is, we will start our article with the definition of circulators, and then we will go through the different types such as Ferrite Circulator, Non-Ferrite Circulator, Coaxial Circulator, Self-biased Junction Circulator and Microstrip Circulator, then we will go through its testing and measurements with its characteristics, at last, we will conclude our article with its Applications, Advantages and Disadvantages with some FAQs.

Table of Content

  • Circulator
  • Working
  • Types
  • Testing and Measurement
  • Circulator Characteristics
  • Applications
  • Advantages and Disadvantages

Similar Reads

What is a Circulator?

Circulators are two or more port devices made up of ferrite material that are usually in the center of the microwave path. These devices are up to a frequency range of 40GHz. The signal fed at any port of the circulator will transmit to the next port and will generate no output at the remaining....

Working of Circulator

Let us consider a 3 port circulator to understand the workings of the circulator....

Types of Circulators

There are various types of circulator listed below. Let us study each of them....

Ferrite Materials in Circulators

Most of the circulators include a ferrite material. Here is the cross-section of a circulator showing the ferrite part of the circulator....

Directional Couplers in Circulators

A directional coupler is a 4 port device that is used to couple the microwave power. This power can be incident or reflected power. We can use the circulators as directional couplers using some modifications. Let us see how...

Compact and Integrated Circulators

As the name suggests, compact and integrated circulators are circulators that have been designed in smaller sizes to ensure that they can be integrated into large-scale circuits. Here is a picture of a compact and integrated circulator that is used in industrial circuits....

Testing and Measurement of Circulators

Let us see how we can test and measure the properties of a circulator to compare their characteristics...

Circulator Characteristics

Some of the Characteristics of circulators are...

Applications of Circulator

Let us study some applications of a circulator....

Advantages and Disadvantages of a Circulator

Let us study some advantages and disadvantages of Circulator :...

Conclusion

We have seen how circulators form an integral part of microwave engineering. They are not only used for isolation and amplification but can also be modified to work as duplexers in certain devices. We have seen how the circulators can be categorized into two types depending on the core material used in designing them. It is necessary to understand the properties of circulators to design an efficient circulator that can minimize loss and ensure maximum power. Readers are suggested to refer to the frequently asked questions in case of any doubt....

Circulator – FAQs

What is meant by the integration of a circulator?...