A Curved Microstrip Patch Antenna Designed From Transparent Conductive Films

Montisci G.;Mura G.;Muntoni G.;Casula G. A.;Chietera F. P.;Aburish-Hmidat M.

2023-01-01

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Abstract

Transparent microstrip patch antennas suffer from low radiation efficiency and gain when manufactured using transparent conductive films (TCFs), mainly at low frequency (starting from the microwave S band). To address this problem, we propose a curved microstrip patch antenna designed using transparent materials. This new configuration has proven to be a simple and effective solution to improve the radiation efficiency and gain of TCF printed antennas. In fact, when typical values of the TCF surface resistance are considered (between 2 and 10 Ω/sq), the new antenna features a radiation efficiency of up to 72.3% and a realized gain of up to 5.3 dBi at 2.15 GHz, with a significant improvement in comparison with the flat transparent microstrip antenna (up to 17.7% radiation efficiency, and 0.5 dBi realized gain). Good transparency and lightweight is ensured by the deposition of the TCF on a polyethylene terephthalate film, which lies, in turn, on a 3D-printed curved polyethylene terephthalate glycol supporting frame. Simulations using Ansys HFSS are presented to demonstrate the potential of the proposed configuration. Then, a prototype of the transparent curved patch antenna is fabricated and measured to assess the simulated results.