For the development and protection of electronic systems, which may be used in a high power electromagnetic (HPEM) environment, the behavior concerning the coupling of electromagnetic pulses is of special interest. Due to the use of different PCB materials, especially for RF applications, the influence of the used substrates on the coupling behavior of HPEM pulses for microstrip lines is investigated in this contribution. The results are to assess statements about the boundary of a linear coupling behavior and the expected coupled signals into PCB structures in complex systems under HPEM conditions. behavior due to the influence of different PCB materials and possible nonlinear effects at high field strengths.
II. COUPLING OF EXTERNAL HPEM FIELDS TO PCBsThe coupling of external electromagnetic fields to PCBs has been regarded in several publications, where in most cases a theoretical approach has been applied. In [4] a simple formulation of the expected voltages on a microstrip line has been developed. The typical structure of a microstrip line on a PCB is illustrated in figure 1. Figure 1. Shematic draft of a PCB trace with microstrip cross section A typical microstrip line over a ground plane (figure 1, (1)) is illustrated. Referred to [4] the effect of different permittivities of the PCB substrates on the amplitude of the coupled voltage has been assessed to maximum 12% based on equations for the terminal voltages for a lowfrequency approximation, which can be derived by