Transient analysis of dielectric step discontinuity of microstrip lines containing a nonlinear layer

Tansient signal propagation characteristics through step discontinuities on microstrip lines with nonlinear substrate are presented. In the proposed model structure, the transient electromagnetic wave propagates from microstrip line with linear substrate to one with nonlinear substrate or vice versa, where two structures are connected to create abrupt discontinuities. The distortions of transient signal through this two abrupt discontinuity structures are numerically simulated by three dimensional FD-TD method. Results show that the distortions of transient signal are evidently influenced by the density of electric field propagating along the microstrip line with nonlinear substrate.