volume | PIER Journals

Abstract

A fully printable and conformal antenna array on a ﬂexible substrate with a new Left-Handed Transmission Line (LHTL) phase shifter based on a tunable Barium Strontium Titanate (BST)/polymer composite is proposed and computationally studied for radiation pattern correction and beam steering applications. First, the subject 1×4 rectangular patch antenna array is conﬁgured as a curved conformal antenna, with both convex and concave bending proﬁles, and the effects of bending on the performance are analyzed. The maximum gain of the simulated array is reduced from the ﬂat case level by 34.4% and 34.5% for convex and concave bending, respectively. A phase compensation technique utilizing the LHTL phase shifters with a coplanar design is used to improve the degraded radiation patterns of the conformal antennas. Simulations indicate that the gain of the bent antenna array can be improved by 63.8% and 68% for convex and concave bending, respectively. For the beam steering application, the proposed phase shifters with a microstrip design are used to steer the radiation beam of the antenna array, in planar conﬁguration, to both negative and positive scan angles, thus realizing a phased array antenna.

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Dr. Mahdi Haghzadeh

Dr. Hamzeh M. Jaradat

Dr. Craig Armiento

Dr. Alkim Akyurtlu