Abstract
Omnidirectional radiation pattern with minimum backward radiation is highly desirable for base station antennas to minimize the multipath effects. Semitransparent ground planes have been used to reduce the backward radiation, but mostly with complicated non-uniform impedance distribution. In this work, we propose, for the first time, a round semitransparent ground plane of radius 0.8 λ with uniform impedance distribution that can improve the front-to-back ratio of a wideband patch antenna by 11.6 dB as compared to a similar sized metallic ground plane. The value of uniform impedance is obtained through analytical optimization by using asymptotic expressions in the Kirchhoff approximation of the radiation pattern of a toroidal wave scattered by a round semitransparent ground plane. The semitransparent ground plane has been realized using a low-cost carbon paste on a Kapton film. Experimental results match closely with those of simulations and validate the overall concept.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 3935-3941 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation |
| Volume | 65 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jun 21 2017 |
Bibliographical note
KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01Acknowledged KAUST grant number(s): OSR-2016-KKI-2899
Acknowledgements: This publication is based upon work supported by the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) under Award No. OSR-2016-KKI-2899.