A frequency-tunable mechanically actuated microstrip patch antenna

Author

Al-Dahleh, R. ; Shafai, L. ; Shafai, C.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Manitoba Univ., Winnipeg, Man., Canada

Volume

4

fYear

2003

fDate

22-27 June 2003

Firstpage

548

Abstract

A frequency-tunable microstrip patch antenna with a stacked air-glass substrate is presented in this paper. Adjusting the air-gap height between the patch and ground plane varies the antenna´s effective dielectric constant, resulting in a shift in resonant frequency. Ensemble simulations and experimental results are presented for the bulk-machined model. Microstrip patch antennas of frequencies ranging between 5 GHz to 20 GHz exhibited frequency shifts of up to 12%. The 8.8 GHz antenna tested experienced a frequency shift of nearly 400 MHz (8.47 GHz to 8.79 GHz).

Keywords

antenna earths; antenna feeds; microactuators; micromachining; microstrip antennas; multifrequency antennas; tuning; 5 to 20 GHz; air-gap height; effective dielectric constant; frequency shifts; frequency-tunable antenna; ground plane; mechanically actuated antenna; micromachined patch antenna; microstrip patch antenna; resonant frequency; stacked air-glass substrate; Air gaps; Antenna radiation patterns; Dielectric constant; Dielectric substrates; Glass; MMICs; Microstrip antennas; Microwave antennas; Patch antennas; Resonant frequency;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium, 2003. IEEE

Conference_Location

Columbus, OH, USA

Print_ISBN

0-7803-7846-6

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/APS.2003.1220331

Filename

1220331