Design for Compact Antenna Arrays That Maintains High Gain and Efficiency

Adds Point Symmetric Complementary Meander Line Slots to Reduce Mutual Coupling

This design for compact antenna arrays maintains high antenna gain and efficiency for use in small devices. Microstrip patch antennas are well known for their performance, robust design, easy fabrication, low profile, and low costs. They are commonly used in various applications including medical, satellites, military systems, aircrafts, and missiles. In applications where high gain is required and area is a constraint, the dimensions of the antenna and the number of antennas used play a crucial role. When more than one antenna is used, each radiating element will affect the gain of the other antenna because of mutual coupling. The effect increases as the distance between the radiating elements is reduced. Available antenna array designs with complementary meander line slots require complex fabrication processes and create large resonant frequency mismatch between the antenna elements due to their asymmetric structure. Researchers at the University of Florida have discovered that the addition of point symmetric complementary meander line (PSC-ML) slots in antenna arrays effectively reduces mutual coupling between closely placed antenna elements. This design makes it possible to create compact antenna arrays while maintaining high antenna gain and efficiency for use in small devices.

Application

Point symmetric complementary Meander Line slots to reduce mutual coupling of micro-patch antennas

Advantages

• Achieves high isolation between antenna elements with a distance less than 0.1?g, reducing mutual coupling and the negative impact on frequency it causes
• Reduces the overall antenna array size, while maintaining high gain and antenna efficiency
• Allows for antenna array miniaturization, without resonant frequency mismatch between neighboring array antenna elements

Technology

The design of the PSC-ML slots effectively reduces the mutual coupling between antenna elements; thereby increasing the overall gain and efficiency of the antenna array. The design works by increasing isolation between the antenna elements. A pair of micro-machined meander line slots are placed in a complementary point symmetric fashion on the ground plane of the antenna array. The PSC-ML slots serve as a band-stop filter and suppress surface currents and mutual coupling between the antenna elements. The point symmetric design of the complementary meander line slots allows for high isolation improvement while also removing resonant frequency mismatch. The PSC-ML architecture is frequency scalable for use in different antenna array applications. The number of meander turns can be increased to further reduce the slot size and distance between the antenna array elements.