
Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs
Publication Date
Spring 5-12-2018
Abstract
Microstrip patch antennas (MPAs) are utilized in many applications as they are easy to produce and are thin, versatile, light weight, cheap, and reliable. One of the drawbacks of MPAs, however, is their narrow bandwidth, typically three to ten percent. Fortunately, a perturbation exists capable of resolving this issue known as the U-slot which can increase the operational bandwidth of a single layer MPA to around 30 percent. Often it is reported that the wideband performance of this structure results from the existence of two resonators, the patch and the U-shaped slot. While this is true, the very nature of this dual resonance and its relationship to wide bandwidth has not been well defined as misconceptions about the design are common. A few of the more significant publications on U-slot MPAs have recently utilized characteristic modal analysis (CMA) as a figure of merit to judge and/or improve existing U-slot design methods. However, it is demonstrated that by combining CMA with Coupled Mode Theory (CMT), it is possible to explain the U-slot MPA’s wideband behavior and operational characteristics. A complete analysis of which is presented through a culmination of U-slot MPA simulations, circuit models, CMT analysis, and fabricated U-slot MPA designs. Lastly, an improved approach to wideband U-slot MPA design is demonstrated based on the discovered fundamental operational characteristics.
Keywords
U-SLOT, PATCH ANTENNAS, CHARACTERISTIC MODAL ANALYSIS, COUPLED MODE THEORY
Document Type
Thesis
Language
English
Degree Name
Electrical Engineering
Level of Degree
Masters
Department Name
Electrical and Computer Engineering
First Committee Member (Chair)
Christos Christodoulou
Second Committee Member
Mark Gilmore
Third Committee Member
John Borchardt
Recommended Citation
LaPointe, Tyler. "CHARACTERIZATION OF WIDEBAND U-SLOT PATCH ANTENNAS THROUGH CHARACTERISTIC MODAL ANALYSIS AND COUPLED MODE THEORY." (2018). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/ece_etds/406