A wide-band single-layer aperture-coupled microstrip antenna

In this paper a new type of a wideband aperture-coupled microstrip antenna is presented. The antenna is modelled as a 2.5 D structure, and is optimized using a genetic algorithm (GA). In addition to the radiator shape, the feed and the coupling slot dimensions are also included in the optimization process. The impedance bandwidth corresponding to VSWR<2:1 achieved by this optimization for the microstrip fed case is slightly larger than 38% and slightly above 20% for the stripline fed case. In order to achieve this bandwidth with traditional aperture-coupled patch, a multilayer patch structure is required. The concept proposed here, considerably reduces the complexity of the fabrication process.