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 Figure 3-43.—Slot coupling in a waveguide.

Minimum reflections occur when energy is injected or removed if the size of the slot is properly proportioned to the frequency of the energy.

After learning how energy is coupled into and out of a waveguide with slots, you might think that leaving the end open is the most simple way of injecting or removing energy in a waveguide. This is not the case, however, because when energy leaves a waveguide, fields form around the end of the waveguide. These fields cause an impedance mismatch which, in turn, causes the development of standing waves and a drastic loss in efficiency. Various methods of impedance matching and terminating waveguides will be covered in the next section.

WAVE GUIDE IMPEDANCE MATCHING

Waveguide transmission systems are not always perfectly impedance matched to their load devices. The standing waves that result from a mismatch cause a power loss, a reduction in power-handling capability, and an increase in frequency sensitivity. Impedance-changing devices are therefore placed in the waveguide to match the waveguide to the load. These devices are placed near the source of the standing waves.

Figure 3-44 illustrates three devices, called irises, that are used to introduce inductance or capacitance into a waveguide. An iris is nothing more than a metal plate that contains an opening through which the waves may pass. The iris is located in the transverse plane of either the magnetic or electric field.

An inductive iris and its equivalent circuit are illustrated in ﬁgure 3-44, View A. The iris places a shunt inductive reactance across the waveguide that is directly proportional to the size of the opening. Notice that the inductive iris is in the magnetic plane. The shunt capacitive reactance, illustrated in View B, basically acts the same way. Again, the reactance is directly proportional to the size of the opening, but the iris is placed in the electric plane. The iris, illustrated in View C, has portions in both the magnetic

Figure 3-44.—Waveguide irises.

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