Rocky Mountain Chapter EMC Society

Our last meeting was..

How to Div Grad Kink and Curl Electrons Into Generating Unwanted Radiated Emissions

Presenter Franz Gisin Manager, EMC/SI Design  Sanmina

Date : Feb 26th 2002

Location : TUV Product Service, 5541 Central Avenue Boulder, CO 80301-2846
Phone +1-303-402-5253  Fax +1-303-449-3004  Click here for directions.

Times : 6:30 - 8:00pm

What we saw:   Anyone who has spent any length of time wandering around within the EMC discipline, will, on occasion, take time out to pause and reflect on exactly what is it about pushing electrons around on conducting materials that causes them to generate propagating electromagnetic waves in their wake. We already know the size of the structure plays an important role.  Structures excited at their natural resonant frequencies radiate at higher levels.  We also know different shaped structures, whether they are optimized for maximum radiation - for example an antenna, or optimized for minimum radiation - for example a collection of information technology equipment assembled on a turntable for an EMC emission test, radiate with different efficiencies.

But if we dig a bit deeper, we cannot help but wonder if some portions of the structure radiate more efficiently than others.  For example, electromagnetic fields from a simple resonant dipole antenna can be mathematically expressed as a sum of three point sources located at the ends and the middle of the dipole.  The implication is that radiation along the dipole elements is not uniform.  If this is so, then we must ask ourselves what intrinsic qualities inherent in the shape of a structure causes electrons in some areas of the structure to generate higher levels of electromagnetic radiation than others.

 

If we can gain a better understanding of the relationships between structure size and shape, electrons in motion, and propagating electromagnetic waves, then we can become better EMC and Signal Integrity engineers by not designing in these kinds of structures into our products.  We know Maxwell's equations accurately describe all electromagnetic phenomena, and so a good starting point is to disassemble these deceptively compact equations and see if we can gain any insight by looking at them in richer detail.  We can also gain understanding by modeling and simulating structures that we often encounter in the EMC profession, for example, printed circuit boards and their associated traces, cables, and electronic enclosures.  From these two approaches we can then formulate some practical "best design practices" that will help us build products that radiate with minimum efficiency.

 

Speaker:. Franz Gisin received his BS(EE) from the University of Idaho in 1972, and his MS(Applied Math) from Santa Clara University in 1986.  Franz has been active in the EMC field for over 25 years.  He is currently Manager of EMC and Signal Integrity Design at Sanmina, the worlds largest EMS manufacturer of high performance printed circuit boards and backplanes.  He is a past IEEE EMC Society Distinguished Lecturer, and past member of the IEEE Board of Directors.  Currently he is vice-chair of TC-10, Signal Integrity, and Steering Committee Chair of the 2004 International EMC Symposium, Santa Clara, CA.

Speaker Contact Information: Franz Gisin

Manager, EMC/SI Design

Sanmina

355 East Trimble Road

San Jose CA 95131

Tel: 408 474-1320

Fax: 408 474-1318