RF Toolbox

Single-Stub Matching

Matches a complex load to the line with one shunt stub — a length of open- or short-circuited line tapped across the main line a distance d from the load. There are always two solutions per period: the stub is placed where the line admittance has the right conductance (Y₀), and its length is chosen so its susceptance cancels the remaining ±jB. The result is checked by transforming the load through the network and confirming the input VSWR is 1.

Equations & Parameters ▸
\(t=\tan\beta d=\dfrac{X_L\pm\sqrt{R_L\big[(Z_0-R_L)^2+X_L^2\big]/Z_0}}{R_L-Z_0}\quad(R_L\ne Z_0)\)
\(B=\dfrac{R_L^2\,t-(Z_0-X_L t)(X_L+Z_0 t)}{Z_0\big[R_L^2+(X_L+Z_0 t)^2\big]}\)
open stub: \(\ell/\lambda=\tfrac{1}{2\pi}\tan^{-1}(BZ_0)\); short stub: \(\ell/\lambda=-\tfrac{1}{2\pi}\tan^{-1}(Y_0/B)\)
RL, XLLoad resistance and reactance (Ω); ZL = RL + jXL.
Z0Characteristic impedance of the line and stub (Ω).
StubOpen- or short-circuited shunt stub.
d, ℓStub distance from load and stub length, in wavelengths.
Reference: D. M. Pozar, Microwave Engineering, 4th ed., §5.2 (single-stub tuning).
Inputs
Ω
Real part
Ω
Imag part
Ω
Reference
Shunt stub
Results

Solution 1

Stub distance d
Stub length ℓ
Resulting VSWR

Solution 2

Stub distance d
Stub length ℓ
Resulting VSWR

Load

Reflection |ΓL|
Load VSWR (unmatched)
Diagram