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

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