Microstrip Antenna
Microstrip Antenna
Construction
Construction (cont.)
The patch antenna, microstrip transmission line and ground plane are made of high conductivity metal (typically copper). The patch is of length L, width W, and sitting on top of a substrate (some dielectric circuit board) of thickness h with permittivity. Typically the height h is much smaller than the wavelength of operation, but not much smaller than 0.05 of a wavelength.
Frequency of operation
The Frequency of operation for Microstrip Antenna is mainly depends on its length L. The center frequency is given by below equation. center frequency does not depends on width( W ).
Width(W) increses => Impedance decreases Width(W) decreases => Impedance increases
Advantages
Easy to fabricate(use etching and photolithography etc.) Easy to feed(like coaxial line ,microstrip line etc ) Easy to use as an array Patterns have good directivity. Low weight Thin profile
Disadvantages
Low efficiency Low gain Large ohmic loss present in the structure Complex feed structure requires high performance arrays.