Complex modes in boxed microstrip

A method is described for obtaining the propagation coefficients and field patterns of a large number of modes for microstrip with a minimum of computational effort. The method uses a discrete space-domain formulation to calculate a large number of higher-order modes in a way which leads to their fast location and which ensures that node modes are missed. This includes those pairs of modes with complex conjugate propagation constants of the type reported for finline, as well as the normal evanescent modes. In addition, the characteristic impedance of microstrip is efficiently calculated. The results presented are obtained using the generally accepted power-current definition and are in agreement with other published results.>