Glide-symmetric holey structures applied to waveguide technology: Design considerations

Recently, there has been an increased interest in exploring periodic structures with higher symmetry due to various possibilities of utilizing them in novel electromagnetic applications. The aim of this paper is to discuss design issues related to the implementation of holey glide-symmetric periodic structures in waveguide-based components. In particular, one can implement periodic structures with glide symmetry in one or two directions, which we differentiate as 1D and 2D glide symmetry, respectively. The key differences in the dispersion and bandgap properties of these two realizations are presented and design guidelines are indicated, with special care devoted to practical issues. Focusing on the design of gap waveguide-based components, we demonstrate using simulated and measured results that in practice it is often sufficient to use 1D glide symmetry, which is also simpler to mechanically realize, and if larger attenuation of lateral waves is needed, a diagonally directed 2D glide symmetric structure should be implemented. Finally, an analysis of realistic holes with conical endings is performed using a developed effective hole depth method, which combined with the presented analysis and results can serve as a valuable tool in the process of designing novel electrically-large waveguide-based components.