Application of the complex image method to characterization of microstrip vias

This article demonstrates the use of the complex image method for the characterization of a microstrip via connecting two microstrip lines located on different levels of a multilayered structure. The Green's function for the vertical component of the vector potential due to a horizontal source has a cos ϕ dependence, which requires a different identity for the complex images. A hybrid basis function is employed at the junctions of the horizontal microstrip line and the vertical via. A technique for recovering impedance matrix symmetry is discussed when RWG discretization is employed. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Microwave Millimeter-Wave CAE 7: 368–379, 1997