Hybrid power couplers are four-port directional couplers designed to provide an equal power split. You can find them as either a 90- or 180-degree quadrature hybrid coupler. Hybrids are not available in 45-degree options. This is because there would be no way to isolate the extra fourth port. In fact, 90- and 180-degree options are the only available as hybrids. These types are commonly used to create reflection phase shifters. To know more about hybrid couplers in general, you should know more about their designs. Here are the two styles and their designs.
180-Degree Couplers
There are two styles of 180-degree couplers, including the rat race and magic tee. The rat race is the more popular option and tends to be the go-to when people talk about this type. This takes in power from one port and distributes it equally among three others. Typically this hybrid has a bandwidth between 30 and 40%.
90-Degree Couplers
When people refer to quadrature couplers, they are often talking about 90-degree hybrids, such as the Lange, branchline, overlay, edge, and short-slot couplers. The most commonly used out of all of these is the branchline design. This is often used to combine power. This style draws power in from two ports. Then, the power from each port is split equally. The result is two new voltages that can be delivered through two output ports.
However, this design can also be used as a divider. In this case, only one signal would be coming in from the input ports, and it would be divided equally between the two outputs. The second input port would be considered isolated.
To know more about couplers, it is best to understand the two most common designs. The 90- and 180-degree couplers are the most popular and have unique features that determine when they should be used.
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