Coupling between two modified V-shaped tapered slot antennas

It is well-known that tapered slot antennas (TSA) can operate over a wide frequency band. Some examples of these antennas have already been analysed and their performances are well-documented in the literature. In this category of antennas, one structure of current interest is the V-shaped TSA on a high dielectric constant substrate, reported by Simons et al. (see IEEE Trans. on Antennas and Propag., vol.AP-43, p.998-1002, 1995). To ensure a wide bandwidth, this antenna has to be a few wavelengths long. The sharp discontinuity at the end of the V-shaped TSA, can cause scattering of the wave travelling along the antenna. To reduce this effect, Mirshekar-Syahkal and Wang (see IEEE Antennas and Propagation Symp. Digest, p.2324-7, 1998) have introduced a tapered section at the end of the antenna and found that the modified V-shaped TSA has lower side lobes. In this paper, after an examination of the single form of the modified V-shaped TSA, the results of a study on the coupling between two of these antennas positioned in one plane are presented. Compared with the stacked structures, planar structures are easier to fabricate and more convenient to interface to planar circuits.