1.A: Appendix- RF and Microwave Circuit Schematic Symbols

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This appendix lists the symbols commonly used with RF and microwave circuits. Symbols are from IEEE Standard 315-1975 [6]. Up until the 1970s IEEE was active in establishing standard symbols for all electrical engineering fields and in particular circuit schematic symbols to be used with microwave circuits. Since then vendors of microwave computer-aided design tools have developed their own symbols but very often a vendor tends to adopt symbols similar to those used by other vendors. However there are differences and as a result there has not been a consensus to adopt a more modern standard for microwave symbols. What is presented in this chapter follows the earlier IEEE standard where possible and for components that are not in the standard, an attempt has been made to select symbols that are in common use in technical papers.

1.A.1 Element and Circuit Symbols

Qualifying Property	Symbol
Adjustable
Adjustable, continuously adjustable
Adjustable, stepped
Linear
Nonlinear
Positive
Negative

Table \(\PageIndex{1}\): IEEE standard qualifying properties added to schematic symbols to identify a particular property.

Component	Symbol	Alternate
Analog to digital converter
Attenuator, fixed
Attenuator, balanced
Attenuator, unbalanced
Attenuator, variable
Attenuator, continuously variable
Attenuator, stepped
Amplifier
Antenna, general
Antenna, balanced
Antenna, dipole
Antenna, loop
Balun
Balun with coaxial line and dipole antenna
Capacitor, general
Capacitor, polarized
Capacitor, variable
Capacitor, nonlinear
Capacitor, shielded
Circulator
Coaxial cable
Conductive path
Connector, female
Connector, male
Contact, fixed
Contact, closed
Contact, open
Delay
Digital-to-analog converter (DAC)
Element, linear (* to be replaced by designation)
Ground, general
Ground, chassis
Coupler
Filter, bandpass filter (BPF)
Filter, lowpass filter (LPF)
Filter, highpass filter (HPF)
Filter, bandstop filter (BSF)
Isolator
Inductor, general
Inductor with magnetic core
Junction
Junction of paths
Network, linear (*to be replaced by designation)
Open
Phase shifter
Piezoelectric resonator
Port
Power divider
Radio link
Radio link with antennas
Rectifier
Resistor, general
Resistor, variable
Resistor, nonlinear
Resistor with open path
Resistor with short
Shield
Short, movable
Source, AC
Source, DC
Switch, multiposition
Test, point
Transformer
Transformer with magnetic core
Transformer, center tapped
Triax
Twinax
Twinax with shield showing connection
Twinax with shield grounded
Short
Wire
Wires, connected
Wires, unconnected, crossing

Table \(\PageIndex{2}\): Standard schematic symbols of RF and microwave components.

1.A.2 Sources

Commonly used symbols for sources.

Component	Symbol
Voltage source
Current source
AC source
Controlled voltage source
Controlled current source
Voltage noise source
Current noise source

Table \(\PageIndex{3}\)

1.A.3 Diodes

IEEE standard symbols for diodes and a rectifier [6]. (\(^{1}\)In the direction of anode (A) to cathode (K). \(^{2}\)Use symbol for general diode unless it is essential to show intrinsic region.)

Component	Symbol
Diode, general (including Schottky)\(^{1}\)
Gunn diode\(^{1}\)
IMPATT diode\(^{1}\)
PIN diode\(^{1,2}\)
Light emitting diode (LED)\(^{1}\)
Rectifier\(^{1}\)
Tunnel diode\(^{1}\)
Varactor diode\(^{1}\)	or
Zener diode\(^{1}\)

Table \(\PageIndex{4}\)

1.A.4 Bipolar Junction Transistor

IEEE standard schematic symbols for bipolar junction transistors (BJT and HBT) [6] and commonly used symbols in layouts [7]. The letters indicate terminals: B (base), C (collector), E (emitter).

Transistor	IEEE Symbol	Commonly Used Symbol
BJT, pnp
BJT, npn

Table \(\PageIndex{5}\)

1.A.5 Junction Field Effect Transistor

Transistor	IEEE Symbol	Commonly Used Symbol
FET, pJFET
FET, nJFET, MESFET, HEMT

Table \(\PageIndex{6}\): IEEE standard schematic symbols for junction field effect transistors (MESFET, HEMT, JFET) [6] and symbols more commonly used in schematics. The letters indicate terminals: G (gate), D (drain), S (source).

1.A.6 Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor

Transistor	IEEE Symbol	Commonly used symbol (three-terminal)	Commonly used symbol (four-terminal)
FET, nMOS, depletion
FET, pMOS, depletion
FET, nMOS, enhancement
FET, pMOS, enhancement

Table \(\PageIndex{7}\): IEEE standard schematic symbols for MOSFET transistors [6] and symbols more commonly used in schematics [7]. The MOSFET symbols are for enhancement- and depletion-mode transistors. The letters indicate terminals: G (gate), D (drain), S (source), U (bulk). Four-terminal and three-terminal common symbols are shown. The three-terminal common symbol is most often used when the bulk is connected to the most negative connection in the circuit, and the pMOSFET symbol is used when the bulk is tied to \(V_{DD}\) (the most positive connection). The bulk connection is often not shown, as it is assumed to be connected to the most negative voltage point.