Material induced changes of antenna performance in vehicular applications

Recent advancements in production materials for cars replace well-known ground plane materials for vehicular antennas. Carbon-fiber composites (CFC´s) replace steel as chassis material, which leads to reduced radiation efficiency. As the production processes of shark-fin antenna modules shift towards laser direct structuring (LDS), it is investigated, if antenna efficiency can be increased by the introduction of a LDS ground plane. Differences in antenna performance are presented on the example of simple LDS and wire monopole-antennas for 5:9GHz (IEEE 801.11p, ITS G5). Gain, efficiency, return loss and the radiation patterns of an LDS design, a CFC and an aluminum ground plane are compared.