Microstrip Antennas

INTRODUCTION
HISTORY FEED METHODS ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES RADIATION EFICIENCY AND BANDWIDTH

B9702122

Monday, March 04, 2013

Microstrip Antennas
INTRODUCTION Microstrip antennas (often called patch antennas) are widely used in the microwave frequency region because of their simplicity and compatibility with printed-circuit technology, making them easy to manufacture either as stand-alone elements or as elements of arrays. In its simplest form a microstrip antenna consists of a patch of metal, usually rectangular or circular (though other shapes are sometimes used) on top of a grounded substrate, as shown in Figure 1.

History The origin of microstrip antennas apparently dates back to 1953, when G.A. Deschamps proposed the use of microstrip feed lines to feed an array of printed antenna elements. The printed antenna elements introduced there were not microstrip patches, but flared planar horns. The microstrip patch antenna was first introduced by Robert E. Munson in a symposium paper in 1972, which was followed by a journal paper in 1974. These papers discussed both the wraparound microstrip antenna and the rectangular patch. Shortly after Munsons symposium paper, J. Howell also discussed rectangular patch antennas in another symposium paper in which he credits Munson with the basic idea by referencing a private communication. In a later journal paper, Howell introduced the circular patch as well as the circularly polarized patch antenna. Soon after the introduction of the microstrip antenna, papers appeared describing methods of analysis for these antennas, including the transmission-line model, the cavity model, and the spectral-domain method.

FIGURE 1 (a) Rectangular microstrip patch antenna and (b) circular microstrip patch antenna

Monday, March 04, 2013

Microstrip Antennas
Feed Methods Various methods may be used to feed the microstrip antenna, as shown in Figure 2 for the rectangular patch. The coaxial probe feed shown in Figure 2a is one of the most common feeds for a stand-alone element. The inset feed in Figure 2b is common for array applications. The proximity-coupled feed in Figure 2c requires multilayer fabrication, but reduces spurious radiation from the feed line. The aperture-coupled feed shown in Figure 2d has the advantage of eliminating feed-line radiation (at the expense of some back radiation from the aperture) and also allows for relatively thick substrates, since probe reactance is not an issue.

FIGURE 7-2 Feeding methods for a microstrip antenna: (a) coaxial feed, (b) inset feed, (c) proximity-coupled feed, and (d) aperture-coupled feed

Monday, March 04, 2013

Microstrip Antennas
Advantages and Disadvantages Microstrip antennas usually have the important advantage of being low profile, and if the substrate is thin enough, they may also be conformable, meaning that the substrate can be bent to fit a curved surface, making the antenna very unobtrusive. Because the lateral size of a microstrip antenna on a substrate board is typically on the order of a half wavelength in the dielectric, size considerations usually dictate that these antennas are used in the UHF frequency band or higher, up through millimeter-wave frequencies, with microwave frequency applications being the most common. The main disadvantages of microstrip antennas include potentially lower radiation efficiency compared with other antennas (although this depends significantly on the substrate permittivity and thickness) and small bandwidth.

Radiation Efficiency and Bandwidth Radiation efficiency depends largely on the substrate permittivity and thickness. A substrate that has a higher permittivity or that is thicker will suffer from increased surface-wave excitation, which will lower the efficiency. On the other hand, if the substrate is too thin, the efficiency will be low due to conductive and dielectric losses. The bandwidth increases with the substrate thickness and inversely with the substrate permittivity, so bandwidth is made larger by using thicker low-permittivity substrates at the expense of increased lateral size and vertical thickness.

Monday, March 04, 2013