LEFT-HANDED NONLINEAR TRANSMISSION LINE MEDIA

摘要

A left-handed nonlinear transmission line system has multiple nonlinear capacitors connected in series between input and output terminals and multiple inductances connected in parallel between the nonlinear capacitors and a return conductor extending between the input and output terminals. The nonlinear capacitors have a capacitance characteristic that changes with the voltage applied across the capacitors, such as a capacitance that decreases with increasing voltage. A radio frequency signal source is coupled to the input terminals and provides power at a selected drive frequency. Depending on the frequency of the drive signal with respect to the Bragg cutoff frequency of the nonlinear transmission line, the output signal may include a strong signal component at the third harmonic of the input drive signal frequency, components at higher harmonics, or components at fractional frequencies of the input drive signal frequency.