volume | PIER Journals

Abstract

This study presents a technique to enhance the bandwidth of substrate-integrated dielectric rod antennas. The technique involves adding a tapered grating at the antenna input, which improves impedance matching. The tapered grating converts some of the guided mode fields into leaky mode fields, leading to improved matching and broader bandwidth. The effectiveness of this approach is demonstrated through simulations and measurements, showing significant bandwidth enhancement in both X-band and Ku-band designs. The design parameters and optimization process are detailed, and the scalability of the technique is confirmed by its successful application to different frequency bands. A design for X-band demonstrates the effectiveness of this technique, yielding a bandwidth of 40%. Additionally, the technique is applied to a previously reported Ku-band design, resulting in an improved bandwidth of 52%, up from 36%. The paper concludes that the proposed tapered grating is an effective approach to enhance the bandwidth of substrate-integrated dielectric rod antennas, particularly for medium or high-gain applications.

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Ms. Shreya Sudhakaran Menon

Dr. Khagindra K. Sood

Dr. Nalesh Sivanandan

Dr. Supriya M. Hariharan