Stripline consists of a flat strip of conducting material separated from two ground planes by a dielectric material as shown in figure below:
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| Fig: Stripline |
Properties of Stripline:
- used over the frequency range from 100MHz to 30GHz.
- the central conductor needn't be equally spaced between the ground planes.
- the dielectric material may be different above and below the central conductor.
- when the separation of ground planes is less than ƛ/2 , the field can't propagate in the transverse direction and decrease exponentially.
- the energy is confined inside the line cross-section provided the width of the ground plane is at least five times greater than the spacing between the plates.
Advantages of stripline:
- smaller than waveguide or co-axial line
- has a greater frequency bandwidth
- has a lower radiation loss
- better isolation
- good EM shielding can be achieved
Disadvantages of stripline:
- complex and expensive in fabricating it
- tuning or troubleshooting is complex
- stripline trace width is smaller compare to microstrip line of same impedance and height.