IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. AP-34, NO.

12, DECEMBER 1986

1439

A Reciprocity Method of Analysis. for Printed Slot and Slot-Coupled Microstrip Antennas
Abstract-A method is presented for the analysis of slot-type discontireciprocity nuities microstripline. approach in The is based on the theorem and uses the exactGreens functions for the grounded dielectric slab in a moment method solution for the unknown antenna The currents. method is applied totwo specificgeometries:a radiating slotin the groundplane of amicrostripline, and an aperture coupledmicrostrip patch antenna. Results for antenna impedance are compared with measurements, and far-zone patterns are calculated. method The is shown to be quite versatile, and should application find to related problems.

planar circuit problems. The method is very similar to that used in [4], for coupling ofprinted dipoles to a microstripline. The method avoids the more brute-force approach of modeling the actual (nonuniform) currents on a feed line, as was done in [7], [8], although it couldbe argued thatthe present method is less rigorous than that of [7], [8], as it does not include the existence of higher order modes the on microstrip feed line. The utility of any solution, however, is determined by the accuracy of the results, as well as its simplicity.

I. INTRODUCTION LLIMETER WAVE printed antennas can take many M f o r m s , including microstrip patch elements, slot elements, and a variety of proximity coupled printed radiators [1]-[4]. The microstripline-fed printed slot [3], [5], and the aperturecoupled microstrip patch [2] are examples of this latter type, and be in mayuseful certain planar array applications. The present paper describes a method of analysis thatcanbeappliedto these geometries, as well as related configurations. The theory is described, and impedance results for the microstripline-fed printed slot antenna and the aperture-coupled microstrip patch antenna are given and compared with measured data. The method is derived in Section 1 using the reciprocity 1 theorem in a manner similar to the analysis of waveguide slot elements [6]. The exact Greens functions in spectral domain form are used to find the necessary field components from electric and magnetic currents in the presence of a dielectric slab. Expressions are derived for the amplitudes of reflected and transmitted waves on the microstrip line, and an equivalent circuit representing the slot discontinuity is found. In Sections II and IV, the basic method is extended to moment I method solutions for a slot antenna with a number of expansion modes in slot, and for an aperture coupled patch the antennawith a numberof expansion modeson the patch. Results are compared with impedancemeasurements, and farzone patterns are calculated. The combination of the reciprocity analysis and a moment methodsolutionusing the exact Greens functions for the planar structure results in a very versatile technique that should find application in a number of printed antenna and
Manuscriptreceived February27, 1986. This work was supported by Presidential Young Investigator Grant ECS 8352325 from the National N Science Foundation, and by the General Electric Corporation, Syracuse, y . The author is with the Departmentof Electrical and Computer Enginering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003. IEEE Log Number 8610058.

II. DENVATIONTHE BASIC OF METHOD

The basic method will be derived here for the problem of a microstripline-fed slot with one piecewisesinusoidalmode representing the aperture field. The followingsectionwill generalize this method to a full moment method solution using a number of expansion modesfor the slot field, and SectionIV will extend it to the aperture coupled patch geometry. The geometry of a microstripline-fed printed slot is shown in Fig. 1. The microstripline is assumed to be infinitely long, and propagating a quasi-transverse electromagnetic (TEM) mode, with transverse modal fields given by

e ( y , z ) = eu9+ e,i,
h ( y , z ) = h,,j + h,i.

(1)
(2)

These fields are assumed to be normalized so that

The propagating microstripline fields are then

A* = +. he*iBX

(5)

where /3 is the propagation constant of the line. The fields (e, h) and the propagation constant /3 are found from the Greens function for an electric current element on a grounded dielectric slab [7] (as given in the Appendix). Now if the slot discontinuity is centered at x = 0, the total microstrip line fields can be written as

E+RE-,

E=+.( ,.
H++RA-, H = IT+,

for x<O for x>O for x<O for x>O

oO18-926X/86/1200-1439$01.OO 0 1986 IEEE

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. M - 3 4 , NO. 12, DECEMBER 1986

t
f

GROUND

PLANE

APERTURE

Fig. 2. The closed surface

S = So + So analysis.

S , used the in

reciprociv

\MICROSTRIP FEED LINE

(Note: an e term could be included in the integrals of (lo), (1 1) to account for propagation phase shift across the width of the slot, but for narrow slots this effect is negligible.) Another application of the reciprocity theorem of the form,
of an infinite

Fig. 1. Geometry of a printed slot in the ground plane microstrip line.

1 Exn- - &=I
5

E - x H - ds,
5

(12)

results in the following expression for 2 7 where R and T are the voltage reflection and transmission coefficients on the line, respectively. Applying the reciprocity V O theorem to the total fields E , I and the positive traveling wave ? T = 1-e:(x, y)h,(x, y ) ds= 1 - R . 2 sa fields E , A+ gives

(13)

1 E x H + - dS= 1 E + x H
S

dS,

(8)

where S isaclosed shown in Fig. 2: where

So
=

surface consisting of three pieces, as

s=so+sa+s,,
the efiective cross section of the microstripline
(-0O<y<o3;O~z<03)

At this point the two applications of the reciprocity theorem (similar to conserving reaction) have led to two equations for the three unknowns R , T, and Vo(the unknown amplitude of the aperture field). The required third equation comes from enforcing the continuity of H, across the aperture:

G=H;+H~,
where

(14)

Sa S,

= the aperture surface = the walls of the microstripline ( y + f 00,z 03, z = 0).
E +

I$= exterior field (z<O) due to Voet:

+

H:, = interior field ( z > 0) due to Voef: H { = interior field ( z>0) due to feed line modes.
Now, at x
=

On S,, A x E = A X = 0, so the contributions to the integrals in (8) from this portion of the surface S are zero. On Sa, A x = 0, but ri x E = VoA x fez,where Voezis the unknown aperture field which, for example, may be takenas a piecewise sinusoidal (PWS) mode of the form,
E +

0- (or x = O, since 1 - R = T ) ,

H$= (1- R ) h , .

(15 )

Now define a Greens function GEwto account for the HJ,

fields on both sides of the aperture (z = 0) due to a j magnetic aperture current:

voef:= VO

sin k,(L/2 - Iy 1) W sin k,L/2 for J x J < w / 2 , \ y J< L / 2 . (9)

Hf;-H:=Vo

1 GEM(x,Y ;
sa

XO,

YO)
*

In (9), k, is the effective wavenumber of the PWS mode; a good choice is the average of the wavenumbers in the two regions adjacent to the slot, i.e., k,= kg-. Equation (8) can then be evaluated to give

Yo) dso.

(16)
in the

(The spectral domain expression for GEM isgiven Appendix.) Combining (14), (15), and (16) gives

where

= ( I -R)h,(x, y ) ,

for x, y E Sa. (17)

This equation can be enforced in a least-mean-square sense

POZAR: PRINTED SLOT AND SLOT-COUPLED MICROSTRIP ANTENNAS

1441

"

EQUIVALENT CIRCUIT OPEN -CIRCUITED TUNING STUB

or, VoYe=Av(l - R ) , (19) where Y eis the external admittance of the slot defined as

Fig. 3.

The equivalent circuit of a slot in the ground plane of a microstrip line.

ye=

1,1,

ez(x, r ) G z M ( x , ; Y

XO,

YO)

where V,, is the unknown mode coefficient, fp is a PWS mode as defined in (57) of theAppendix, and yn is the center point of the nth expansion mode:
y n= - L / 2

+ (n + l)h,

(26)

eZ(x0, YO)ds dso. (20)

Expressions for the three unknowns can now be written in terms of Y e and Av as follows:

where h = L/(N + 1) is the PWS mode half-length. An admittance matrix [ Y e ] can be defined for the aperture with elements

v,= A v 2Av2 Y e 2+
R= AV2 Av2 + 2 Y e

T=

2Ye =l-R. Av2+2Ye

The above result that T = 1 - R impliesthattheslot discontinuity appears as a simple series impedance Z to the . COS k y ( ~ m - ~ n ) dky, (28) dkx microstripline, as shown in Fig. 3. (Note that this equivalence is not assumed a priori, but is a consequence of the analysis.) and the integrations done numerically as described in [ 9 ] .By This series impedance 2 can be found as extension of (lo), the reflection coefflcient on the microstripline can be expressed as 2R AU2 z = z c - =zc , Ye 1-R where Z, is the characteristic impedance of the microstripline. The equivalent circuit provides a very convenient way to apply the results of this analysis, as transmission line theory can be used to account for the presence of tuning stubs and other external circuitry.
HI.
MOMEhT

where hy is the normalized magnetic field of the microstripline. A discontinuity voltage vector [Av] can then be defined (similar to (1 1 ) ) with elements given by

METHOD SOLUTION FOR SLOT

THE MICROSTRIPLINE-FED

The geometry of a slot in the ground plane of a microstripline is shownin Fig. 1. In practice such a slotisusually resonant, so a one-mode approximation to the slot fields of the form of (9) may not be a sufficient approximation (although convergence checks usingmanymodesshowthatthe one mode approximation isactually quite goad). This section, then, generalizes the basic method of Section II to employ a full moment method solution for the aperture distribution, and compares the results with measured data. Let the aperture field e; be expanded in a set of N PWS modes:
N
N

COS

k,yn dk,.

(30)

e%,

Y )=
n= 1

V,,eZ,,(x,Y ) =
n= 1

v,,-W ( Y - Y n ) , fp

The width to be used inF,, in (30) is W,, the width of the feed line. At this point an offset-fed slot (feed line not centered in aperture) can be easily treated by replacing y,, in (30) by y,, yes, where yOs the offset distance of the feed line from the is center of the slot. The boundary condition that corresponds to enforcing continuity of Hy through the aperture can then be written in matrix form as

(25)

[ y e ] V l = ( l -R)[Aul, [

(3 1 )

1442

TRANSACTIONS IEEE

ON ANTENNAS

AND PROPAGATION, VOL. AP-34, NO.

12, DECEMBER 1986

which corresponds to (19). The vector of expansionmode amplitudes can be found as

.1210-

[VI = [ Y e ]+- [Au][Au]' [Au], I 2

and the reflection coefficient computed from

1-'

(32)

- 8R
6-

I?=? [ V ] ' [ A U ] .

(33)

The equivalent series impedance Z of the slot can then be 0 found using R in (24). 2 2 2.4 2.6 2.8 3.0 3.6 3.4 3.2 3.8 The above solution was carried out for a number of slot FREQUENCY- GHZ geometries. A necessary not (but sufficient) check is to compute the admittance matrix elements of (28) for a slot in a substrate with er = 1, and compare with the results of a PWS mode expansion on a free-space dipole of appropriate equivalent radius [ l o ] . Babinet's principle relates the dipole impedance to the slot admittance. Fig. 4 shows a comparison with measured the series impedance Z of a printed slot antenna. Initially, the method described in [3] of measuring Sl1 and calculating the series impedance 2 was tried, but this was foundto be very sensitive to errors. A more reliable measurement was obtained by terminating one port of the microstrip feed line with a matched loadand measuring the input impedance. The normalized series impedance Z = R + jX is then 2 = Zh/50 - 1, for a 50 J characteristic line impedance. The measurements were ! made with an HP8510 network analyzer. The calculations were made with three PWS modes in the -10 ! aperture, and the edge condition was applied to both the y 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8 3.0 3.2 3.4 3.6 3.8 distribution of current on the feed line and thex-distribution of FREQUENCY - GHz the aperture field. The solution was quite stable, in terms of normalized equivalent convergence. Results usingone PWS mode were very close to Fig. 4. Measured (XXX) and calculated (-) a microstripline.E , = 2.20, series impedance of a slot in the ground plane of d= those using three or more modes, and the edge condition had 0.16 cm, L = 4.02 cm, W = 0.07 cm, W, = 0.50 cm. only a small effect. The calculations are in reasonable agreement with measurements. It is interesting to see the effect of a tuning stub on this slot antenna, as a very strong loading effect occurs. As can be seen from the data of Fig. 4, the resonant frequency of the slot when fedbyan infinite microstrip line isabout 3.0 GHz. There is, however, a very severe impedance mismatch at this frequency. A stub-tunedslot of the same dimensionswas measured [l 11 to have a resonant frequency of about2.5 GHz, and a perfect impedance match was obtained this frequency. at This shift in resonant frequency of 17 percent is explained by the data of Fig. 4, where it is seen that a normalized input resistance of about 1 is obtained at 2.5 GHz. The normalized reactance at this frequency is about j 4 , and is cancelled by the opencircuited tuning stub, which is about 0.04 Ag long at this frequency. Fig. 5 shows the calculated E- and H-plane far-field patterns of the slot antenna, at a frequency of 2.5 GHz (stub tuned). The far-fields of theslot are calculated from the stationary phase evaluation of the Green's functions for the field components of the slot. It is seen that the presence the of thin dielectric layer has no significant effect on the radiation Fig. 5. E- and H-plane far-field plots ofthe microstripfed slot antenna patterns ofthe slot, and that the radiation is bidirectional. This (stub-tuned) of Fig. 4. .
I I I I I
I I I I

1
4-

2-

POZAR: PRINTED SLOT AND SLOTCOUPLED MICROSTRIP ANTENNAS

1443
12

bidirectional property is not desirable in most array applications, so a ground plane spaced b/4away from the array plane isoftenused to achieve a unidirectional pattern [5]. This procedure works well for broadside arrays, but may lead to excitation of parallel plate waveguide modes in a scanning array.

ANTENNA

w.MOMENT METHOD SOLUTION FOR THE APERTURE COUPLED

PATCH ANTENNA

The geometry ofthe aperture coupled microstrip patch antenna is shown in Fig. 6 ; this configuration is similar to the printed slot antenna shown in Fig. 1, except that an additional substrate with a microstrip patch element is placed over the slot on the ground planeside. The slot is smaller than resonant size, so most radiation occurs from resonant the patch element. As discussed in [ 2 ] , this configuration has some interesting features when used in a monolithic phased array application. Sincethecoupling aperture is electrically small, a single PWS mode is assumed to be adequate to represent the field. The analysis of Section I1 is then modified to account for the presence of the patch as seen by the aperture. The unknown SUBSTRATE MC O T I I R S RP currents on the patch are expanded in a set of entire domain FEED LINE functions, and the additional boundary condition that E, = 0 Fig, 6 , of an coupled microstrippatch antenna, on the patch is enforced. The coupling of the slot to the feed line is tie same as in Section 11, with the self-admittance y e of and [ is a voltage vector with elements given by the slot replaced with Y e + Y o ,where Y is the admittance of the slot locking at the patch antenna. It is assumed that the Q vn= J &J:(x)f,(y) ds of thepatchishighenough so thatonly xdirected currents are SP necessary-an assumption validated in [9]. Let El be the incident field at thepatch due to the = e:(xo, YO)GEY(X~; XO, o ) f X x ) f u ( ~ ) dso. Y ~ ds equivalent magneticcurrent source lii, = jkf: the aperture, on (38) and let the patch current J,, be expanded in a set of N entire domainmodes for the x-variation anduniform (pulse) modesThese expressions can be written in thefollowing spectral for the y-variation: domain form:

ism ,s
Y

Enforcing the boundary condition that E, must vanish on the patch surface leads to the following:

E(k,, k,) dk, dk,

(39)

where Sp denotes patch the surface. Weighting equation this of with the same functions as the expansionmodes gives, in matrix form,

eEiw(k,, k,) dk,. dk,

(40)

The patch contribution to the slot is then

aperture admittance seen by the

fu(Jo)G:(x, Xo, Y; Yo)

ds dso, (37)

where Au is given by (30).

1444

TRANSACTIONS IEEE ON

ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. AP-34, NO. 12, DECEMBER 1986

The above analysis is general enough to accommodate different substrate permittivities and thicknesses for the separate antenna and feed substrates. A coupling aperture that is offsetfrom either the feed line or the patch, or both, can also be treated (by adjusting y n in (30), or y in (38)), but from a practical point of view such offsets not generally desirable are (unless two feedpoints are needed, as, for example, when circular polarization is required), as the coupling would be reduced [2], [8]. The above analysis assumes the is slot centered with respect to the patch and the feed line. The aperture coupled patchantenna is usually tuned with an open-circuited stub of microstrip line, approximately h,/4 long. If thestub length isL,, the input impedance seen looking into the microstrip feed line referenced to the aperture is

Z,=Z-jZ,

cot PL,.

(43)

Slightlymore accurate results canbeobtained by adding a length extension to L, to account for fringing fields at the end of the open stub; for the cases considered here the length extension is approximately 0.4 d f , where df is the feed substrate thickness. Figs. 7 and 8 show Smithchart plots of the input impedance of two stub-tuned aperture coupled patchantennas. The case in Fig. 7 has the same substrate parameters for both the feed and antenna substrates. Measurements are compared with the present theory, as well as the theory of [8]; it is seen that the present theory is actually a bit better than that of [8], which shows a smallshift in the resonant frequency. Part of the reason for this difference may be that [8] used PWS modes on the patch, while the present theory uses entire domain modes on the patch. Fig. 8 shows results for a low dielectric constant (2.22) substrate for the antenna and a high dielectric constant (10.2) substrate for the feed line. This configuration simulates the monolithic phased array application, where the feed substrate would be GalliumArsenide for phase shifters and other active circuitry. Again the measurements are comparedwith the present theory andthe theory of [8], and good results are obtained. Fig. 9 shows the calculated far-zone E- and H-plane patterns of the stub-tuned aperture coupled patch of Fig. 8. The far fields are calculated from the stationary phase evaluationsof the electric current on the patch [ 121, inaddition to the far-fields of the slot. A front-to-back ratio of about 23 dl3 is realized, showing that the microstrip patch element is radiating much more effectively the than slot element. Measured patterns were found to be in reasonable agreement with these calculations, withsome distortions being due to finite ground plane and feed line diffractions. V. CONCLUSION A method has been presented for analyzing slot-type discontinuities in microstripline. The method is based on the reciprocity theorem and uses the exact Greens functions for the dielectric slab, and a momentmethodsolution for the unknown antenna currents. The method has been appliedto the microstrip-fed slot antenna, and to the aperture coupled patch antenna, with quite good results when compared with mea-MEASURED 0 0 OTHlS THEORY 0 0 *THEORY OF181

Fig. 8. Smith chartplot of the inputimpedance of a stub-tuned apemre coupledpatchantenna. E , = 2.22, d, = 0.16 cm, PL = 4.0 cm, PW = 3.0cm, = 10.2, dl = 0.127em, L = 1.0 cm, W = 0.11cm, W, = 0.116 cm, L, = 1.1 cm.

POZAR:

SLOTMICROSTRIP AND SLOT-COUPLED

ANTENNAS
-HMyy

1445
G

--[
-j

j ( k , cos kld+ jk2c,sin kld)(c,ki- k;) koZo kl Tn r

-jk;kl(cr - 1) -

( k i- k;) jkz

Tm Te G, - -Gy.x. In the above, Te= klcos kld+ jk2 kld sin

-EW-

- HJ

(47)

Trn=e,k2cos kld+jkl sin kld k;=crki-P2, ki=ki-P2,

Im kl<O
Im k2<0

Pz= k:+ k$
Fig. 9. E- and H-plane far-field plots of the stub-tuned aperture coupled patch antenna of Fig. 8.

k~=w2p~o=(2~/Ao)2

sured data. This method should prove to be useful for related problems.
APPENDIX

Z o = G .

(55)

The one-dimensional Fourier transforms of the following expansion/test modes are also required: fu(y) = piecewisesinusoidal mode: ( h = mode half-length)

This Appendix lists the required Green's function components: GE G F

= E, at (x, y ,
=

[XW,

for IyI < w / 2 for JyI> w/2 (56)

Ggw =
G Y
=

d) due to a unit 2 electric current element at (xo, YO,d ) Hy at ( X , y , . 0) due to a unit 2 electric current element at (xo,yo, d ) Hy at ( X , y , 0) due to a unit 9 magnetic current (or e; slot field) element at (xo,yo, 0) E, at (x, Y , d ) due to a unit 9 magnetic current (or e; slot field) element at (xo,yo, 0).
of G as

Definethe Fourier transform

entire domain(sine) mode: (m=1, 3, 5 ,

e . . )

(44)

edge conditionmode:

Then,

The Fourier transform is defied as (c,ki- k f ) k , cos k l d + j k l ( k i - k:) sin kld Te Tm

(45)
m

sin kld

F(k,)=
-m

f(x)ejkxx dx,

andthe transforms of the above functions are

1446

NS IEEE TRANSACTIO1 ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL.

AP-34, NO. 12, DECEMBER 1986

ACKNOWLEDGMENT The author would like to thank Allan C . Buck for fabricating the experimental models, and plotting the far-field pattern of the aperture-coupled patch antennas.
REFERENCES

F, (k,) = Jo( k, W/2).

(64)

The fields and the propagation constant 0 of the infinite microstrip line can be found from the above expressions, as discussed in [7]. The H, field at (x, y , 0 due to the microstrip ) line is, for example,

where the feed line width,. W,, is the proper width to use in F,(k,) in (65). This model of the microstrip line assumes uniform current (56) across the width of the line. The edge condition (59) could be used just as easily, but it has been found this that has negligible effect. To normalize the microstrip line fields in accordance withrelation (3), it is noted that the modal fields under the quasi-TEM approximation are real, so that the power flow down the infinite line is

p=

!:- ExH* - 2 dz dy s,

= VI= &I2 = Z c ,

(66)

where E , A are the fields from the microstripline with a total current of I = 1 A. The appropriate normalization constant is where 2, is the characteristic impedance of the line. thus Then,

e,

J. R. James and A. Henderson, Planar millimeter-wave antenna arrays, i ZnfraredandMillimeter Waves, vol. 14, pt. V, K. Button, n Ed. London: Academic, 1985. D. M. Pozar, A microstrip antenna aperture coupled to a microstrip line, Electron. Lett., vol. 21, pp. 49-50, Jan. 17, 1985. B. N. Das and K. K. Joshi, Impedance of aradiatingslot in the ground plane of amicrostriphe, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propagat., pp. 922-926, Sept. 1982. (Also see, D. M. Porn, N. K. Das, B. N. Das, and K. K. Joshi. Comments on Impedance of a radiating slot in ZEEE Trans. Antennas the ground plane a of microstripline, Propagat., vol. AP-34, pp. 958-959, July 1986.) [41 M. Kominami, T. Takei, and K. Rokushima, A printed dipole electromagnetically coupled to a microstrip feed line, in I985 ZSAP Symp. Proc., Kyoto, Japan, pp. 93-96. Y. Yoshimura, A microstripline slot antenna, IEEE Trans. Microwave Theoty Tech., vol. MTT-20, pp. 760-762, Nov. 1972. R. E. Collin and F. J. Zucker, Antenna Theory, Part Z. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1969, ch.14. R. W. Jackson and D. M. Pozar, Full-wave analysis of microstrip open-end and gap discontinuities, ZEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Tech., vol. MTT-33, pp.1036-1042, Oct. 1985. P. L. Sullivan and D. H. Schaubert, Analysis of an aperture coupled microstrip antenna, ZEEE Trans. Antennas Propagat., vol. AP-34, pp. 977-984, Aug. 1986. [91 D. M. Pozar, Input impedance and mutual coupling of rectangular microstrip antennas, ZEEE Trans. AntennasPropagut., vol. AP-30, pp. 1191-1 196, NOV. 1982. , Antenna Design Using Personal Computers. Dedham, MA: Artech House, 1985. A. C. Buck, Investigation of printed circuit antennas, M.S. thesis, Elec. Comput. Eng. Dept., Univ. Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 1986. D. M. Pozar, Analysis of finite phased arrays of printed dipoles, ZEEE Trans. Antennas Propagat., vol. AP-33, pp. 1045-1053, Oct. 1985.

h, = H,/Jz,.

(67)

David M. Pozar (S74-M80), for a photograph and biography please page 4 of the January 1984 issue of this TRANSACTIONS.

see