Analysis of Rectangular Microstrip Antennas with Air Substrates

Mohammed Bekhti,
Centre National des Techniques Spatiales, Division Instrumentation Spatiale BP 13, Arzew 31200, Algeria. Tel: +213 41 47 38 26 - Fax: +213 41 47 36 65 Internet: bekhti.mohamed@cnts.dz

Abstract:
This paper presents an analysis of rectangular microstrip antennas with air substrates. The effect of the substrate thickness on the bandwidth and the efficiency are examined. An additional thin layer supporting the dielectric material is added to the air substrate in order to make the antenna mechanically rigid and easy to manufacture. The effect of the dielectric material, of this additional substrate layer and its thickness on the antenna characteristics, is investigated. The thin dielectric material is then inverted so that the patch is deposited on its lower side in order to protect the metal from the surrounding environment. can also take advantage of the plastic layer to protect the metal from the antennas environment [12]. This paper examines the use of a thin substrate layer above an air filled substrate. Such structure eases the fabrication of the patch using the printed circuit board technique [4], [5]. The use of a foam material is to maintain the broadband characteristic and to have a mechanically stable support to the radiating patch. However, since the electrical specifications of foams are very close to air, only air substrate antennas will be presented here. Also the results presented in this paper show an improvement with regard to the ones obtained in [13].

Keywords: microstrip antennas air substrate

thickness foam material inverted patch bandwidth efficiency return loss.

Introduction:
Microstrip antennas are widely used in wireless communication applications because of their low profile, lightweight, low cost and compatibility with integrated circuits. The main disadvantage of conventional microstrip antennas is their narrow bandwidth. One of the most common ways of enhancing their bandwidth is increasing the thickness of their substrates [3], [4], [5]. However, the use of thicker substrates was found to be counterproductive due to the appearance of surface waves. These waves reduce the efficiency and produce spurious coupling, which makes the design of antennas difficult [2], [3], [4]. The use of thicker substrates may be combined with that very low permittivity materials; this makes it possible to prevent the appearance of surface waves while enhancing the efficiency and widening the frequency bandwidth [7], [8], [9]. Ideally, the dielectric substrate of a microstrip antenna should be air. The next best materials are hard foams, some of which can exhibit a relative low permittivity. Surface waves are not significantly excited on foam substrates. These foams are available in various densities, each of them with a different relative permittivity ranging from 1.03 to 1.1. They are rigid and inexpensive and, thus they could be used to realise low cost antenna for consumer applications. However, neither air nor foam presents flat, well defined surface; so metal patches can not be deposited directly on it. Therefore, metal is deposited on an additional layer of plastic material. One

Rectangular Microstrip Antennas with Air Substrates:

A microstrip antenna configuration has been selected so that it resonates around 900 MHz with an air substrate. The geometry of the antenna is shown in figure 1. The length of the rectangular patch is 160 mm and its width is 120 mm. the size of the ground plane is (320 mm x 280 mm) and the patch is located at its centre. The thickness of the air substrate of the antenna is 5 mm.

Ground Plane Figure 1: Rectangular microstrip antenna layout. Figure 2 shows the return loss of the antenna. These results were produced using an electromagnetic simulation and optimisation software package (IE3D) which uses a numerical technique based on the method of moment [1], [2], [6], [12]. The antenna resonates at 882 MHz, the bandwidth with 10 dB return loss is 11.66 MHz and hence the percentage bandwidth is 1.32%. The maximum gain is 9.2 dBi and antenna efficiency is about 93%.

0 0,8 0,82 0,84 0,86 0,88 0,9 0,92

0 0, 58 0, 6 0, 62 0, 64 0, 66 0, 68 0, 7 0, 72

-5

Return Loss (dB)

-5 -10

Return Loss (dB)

-10

-15

-20

-15

-25 -30

-20

-35

-25

Frequency (Ghz)

Frequency (Ghz)

Figure 2: return loss for an air filled rectangular microstrip antenna. Table 1 shows the -10 dB return loss bandwidth of an air filled rectangular microstrip antenna with different thickness of air substrates. As expected, the bandwidth significantly increases with the thickness of the substrate. The central frequency for each thickness is listed in the table. In order to show the superiority of air substrates, two other substrate materials have been computed and their results are shown. The first material is Duroid 5880, which has a dielectric constant of 2.2 and a tangent loss of 0.002. The other substrate material is the FR4, which has a dielectric constant of 4.6 and a tangent loss of 0.02 [12].
substrate 1.25 mm pure air 2.5 mm pure air 5 mm pure air 10 mm pure air 20 mm pure air 5 mm Duroid 5880 5 mm pure FR4 Central Resonant frequency 936 Mhz 908 Mhz 882 Mhz 852 Mhz 842 Mhz 618 Mhz 436 Mhz Frequency bandwidth 4.75 Mhz 7.68 Mhz 11.66 Mhz 22.42 Mhz 43.92 Mhz 6.71 Mhz 7 Mhz Percentage bandwidth 0.51% 0.85% 1.32% 2.63% 5.22% 1.09% 1.61% Maximum gain 9.4 dBi 9.3 dBi 9.2 dBi 9.1 dBi 9 dBi 7.5 dBi 6.5 dBi

Figure 3: return loss for a Duroid material substrate of a rectangular microstrip antenna.

Additional Thin Layer of Dielectric Material to the Air Substrate

Since a metal patch can not be deposited directly on the air substrate, an additional layer of thin dielectric material was added on the air substrate. In this work, both Duroid 5880 and FR4 dielectric materials have been used as additional layers above the air substrate. Keeping the total thickness of the two layers of the antenna substrate equal to 5 mm, the thickness of the two layers of the antenna has been changed and the results are presented in table 2. The total thickness of the antenna substrate was then changed to 10 mm and the results shown in table 3.
Thickness of the substrate material 0.25 mm Duroid 0.5 mm Duroid 1 mm Duroid 2 mm Duroid 0.25 mm FR4 0.5 mm FR4 1 mm FR4 2 mm FR4 Central Resonant frequency 866 Mhz 854 Mhz 830 Mhz 782 Mhz 854 Mhz 834 Mhz 796 Mhz 722 Mhz Frequency bandwidth 11.3 Mhz 10.99 Mhz 10.47 Mhz 9.44 Mhz 10.93 Mhz 10.46 Mhz 9.51 Mhz 8.25 Mhz Percentage bandwidth 1.3 % 1.29 % 1.26 % 1.21 % 1.28 % 1.25 % 1.19 % 1.14 % Maximum gain 9.2 dBi 9.1 dBi 9.0 dBi 8.7 dBi 9.1 dBi 9.0 dBi 8.8 dBi 8.4 dBi

Table 1: resonant frequency, bandwidth and maximum gain of rectangular microstrip antennas with different substrates. It is clear that the gain and hence the efficiency of the Duroid and FR4 antennas are much lower than the corresponding (5 mm thick) air substrate antennas. The return loss using a Duroid substrate is shown in figure 3. The maximum gain of the Duroid antenna is 7.5 dBi and the efficiency is about 74%. On the other hand, although the effective thickness of the Duroid substrate (the actual thickness times the square root of the dielectric constant) is about one and a half times the thickness of the corresponding air filled substrate, their percentage bandwidths are almost equal [12].

Table 2: effect of the thickness of the upper dielectric substrate layer on the bandwidth and the gain of the antenna with a 5 mm total substrate thickness. The above results show that as long as the thickness of the upper dielectric substrate layer is small, its effect on the bandwidth and gain is negligible, regardless of the material of this layer. Thus, with a thin upper dielectric, there is no need to use a low dielectric constant or even a low loss material. On the other hand, if a thick upper dielectric substrate material has to be used, the effect of the material can be more significant and it may be better to use a low dielectric low loss material [11], [12].

Thickness of the substrate material 0.25 mm Duroid 0.5 mm Duroid 1 mm Duroid 2 mm Duroid 4 mm Duroid 0.25 mm FR4 0.5 mm FR4 1 mm FR4 2 mm FR4 4 mm FR4

Central Resonant frequency 842 Mhz 834 Mhz 822 Mhz 798 Mhz 752 Mhz 832 Mhz 818 Mhz 796 Mhz 756 Mhz 684 Mhz

Frequency bandwidth 22.25 Mhz 21.81 Mhz 21.12 Mhz 19.93 Mhz 18.28 Mhz 21.67 Mhz 21.04 Mhz 19.78 Mhz 18.3 Mhz 15.83 Mhz

Percentage bandwidth 2.64 % 2.62 % 2.57 % 2.5 % 2.43 % 2.6 % 2.57 % 2.48 % 2.42 % 2.31 %

Maximum gain 9.1 dBi 9.1 dBi 9.0 dBi 8.9 dBi 8.6 dBi 9.1 dBi 9.0 dBi 8.9 dBi 8.8 dBi 8.3 dBi

Thickness of the substrate material 0.25 mm Duroid 0.5 mm Duroid 1 mm Duroid 2 mm Duroid 0.25 mm FR4 0.5 mm FR4 1 mm FR4 2 mm FR4

Central Resonant frequency 876 Mhz 876 Mhz 878 Mhz 884 Mhz 866 Mhz 866 Mhz 862 Mhz 862 Mhz

Frequency bandwidth 11.22 Mhz 10.75 Mhz 9.99 Mhz 7.86 Mhz 11.13 Mhz 10.58 Mhz 9.37 Mhz 7.83 Mhz

Percentage bandwidth 1.28 % 1.23 % 1.14 % 0.89 % 1.29 % 1.22 % 1.09 % 0.91 %

Maximum gain 9.2 dBi 9.2 dBi 9.3 dBi 9.3 dBi 9.2 dBi 9.2 dBi 9.2 dBi 9.3 dBi

Table 4: effect of the thickness of the inverted plastic layer on the bandwidth and the gain of the antenna with a 5 mm total antenna thickness.
Thickness of the substrate material 0.25 mm Duroid 0.5 mm Duroid 1 mm Duroid 2 mm Duroid 4 mm Duroid 0.25 mm FR4 0.5 mm FR4 1 mm FR4 2 mm FR4 4 mm FR4 Central Resonant frequency 846 Mhz 846 Mhz 844 Mhz 842 Mhz 846 Mhz 838 Mhz 832 Mhz 824 Mhz 812 Mhz 806 Mhz Frequency bandwidth 22.25 Mhz 21.94 Mhz 21.16 Mhz 19.33 Mhz 14.34 Mhz 22.08 Mhz 21.56 Mhz 20.75 Mhz 18.42 Mhz 14.33 Mhz Percentage bandwidth 2.63 % 2.59 % 2.51 % 2.30 % 1.69 % 2.63 % 2.59 % 2.52 % 2.27 % 1.78 % Maximum gain 9.1 dBi 9.1 dBi 9.1 dBi 9.2 dBi 9.2 dBi 9.1 dBi 9.1 dBi 9.1 dBi 9.2 dBi 9.2 dBi

Table 3: effect of the thickness of the upper dielectric substrate layer on the bandwidth and the gain of the antenna with a 10 mm total substrate thickness. Figure 4 shows the return loss of the configuration shown on figure 2 after having added a 0.25 mm thin layer of FR4 on the air substrate. The total thickness of the two layers is kept at 5 mm. The antenna resonates at 854 Mhz, the -10 dB frequency bandwidth is 10.93 Mhz and hence the percentage bandwidth is 1.28%. The maximum gain is 9.1 dBi and the efficiency is about 92%. Thus, although this antenna configuration is cost effective and easy to manufacture in a repeatable way, it has the same bandwidth and much higher efficiency than the corresponding Duroid substrate antenna.
0 0, 79 -5 0, 8 0, 81 0, 82 0, 83 0, 84 0, 85 0, 86 0, 87 0, 88

Return Loss (dB)

-10

-15

-20

Table 5: effect of the thickness of the inverted plastic layer on the bandwidth and the gain of the antenna with a 10 mm total antenna thickness.
Frequency (Ghz)

-25

0 -20,78 -4 0,8 0,82 0,84 0,86 0,88 0,9 0,92

Figure 4: return loss for an air filled rectangular microstrip antenna after adding a thin FR4 layer at the top of the substrate.

Return Loss (dB)

-6 -8 -10 -12 -14 -16 -18 -20

Inverting the Thin Dielectric Material

To protect the metal from the antennas environment, the metal is deposited on the underside and hence it is called inverted patch. The above calculations are repeated after inverting the upper dielectric layers keeping the total thickness of the antenna at 5 or 10 mm. The new results are presented in tables 4 and 5 respectively [12].

Frequency (Ghz)

Figure 5: return loss for an air filled rectangular microstrip antenna after inverting a thin FR4 layer.

Again, as long as the thickness of the upper dielectric layer is small, its effect on the bandwidth and gain is negligible, regardless of the material of this layer. However, it should be noted that after inverting the upper dielectric layer, it is not considered as a part of the substrate of the antenna anymore but it is a superstrate. Therefore, their effect on the central resonant frequency and gain of the antenna is negligible. Furthermore, since the total thickness of the antenna is constant, increasing the thickness of the inverted dielectric layer reduces the thickness of the antenna substrate. The total thickness of the antenna was kept constant because its maximum permissible overall thickness is usually specified according to the size of the available space [12]. Figure 5 shows the return loss of the configuration shown in figure 4 after inverting the thin FR4 layer. The total thickness of the antenna is kept at 5 mm and hence the thickness of the substrate was reduced to 4.75 mm. The antenna resonates at 866 Mhz, the -10 dB frequency bandwidth is 11.13 Mhz and hence, the percentage bandwidth is 1.29%. The maximum gain is 9.2 dBi and the efficiency is about 93% [12].

5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

10.

11.

Conclusions
Rectangular microstrip antennas with air substrates were analysed. The effect of their thickness on the bandwidth and the gain and the efficiency were studied. An additional thin supporting dielectric material was added to the air substrate in order to make the antenna mechanically rigid and easy to manufacture in a repeatable way. The effect of the thickness and the material of this additional substrate layer on the air gap microstrip antennas were investigated. The thin dielectric layer was then inverted such that the patch was deposited on its lower side in order to protect the metal from the environment. Although such antenna configuration was cost effective and easy to realise in a repeatable way, it had almost the same bandwidth and much higher efficiency than the corresponding Duroid substrate antenna. As long as the thickness of the upper additional dielectric layer is small, its effect on the bandwidth and gain is negligible, regardless of the material of this layer. Thus, with a thin upper dielectric layer, there is no need to use a low dielectric constant or a low loss material. On the other hand, if a thick upper dielectric material has to be used, the effect of the material can be more significant and it may be better to use a low dielectric low loss material. 12.

13.

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