Microstrip Patch Antenna with Inclined Slot for Dual-Band Operation

Shivnarayan and Babau R. Vishvakarma*, senior member IEEE Department of Electronics Engineering Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University Varanasi-221005, INDIA E-mail: * brvish@bhu.ac.in

Abstract
The experimental investigation of inclined slot-loaded rectangular microstrip patch antenna has been carried out for dual-band operation using a single probe feed. In this case, two resonant frequencies occur due to interruption of the longitudinal and transverse current flowing on the patch and hence proposed antenna acts as a circularly polarized antenna. It is observed that the frequency ratio of two resonant frequencies can be controlled from 1.87 to 2.45 by the inclination angle of the slot.

Introduction
It has been demonstrated that dual-frequency can be obtained by introducing the slots parallel to radiating edges of the patch [1], co-axial [2] or microstrip stubs [3] at the radiating edges of the patch. In such dual-frequency designs, the operating frequencies are associated to the TM10 and TM30 modes of simple rectangular patch. In addition, these solutions do not allow a frequency ratio higher than 1.2. In the present paper, we demonstrate that, by inclination of a slot placed parallel to the radiating edge of the patch, a novel dual-frequency operation of the patch antenna can be achieved easily by using a single probe feed instead of using simultaneous slots and short circuit [4]. It is also found that the frequency ratio of the two frequencies can varied from 1.87 to 2.45 with the increase of inclination angle of the slot on the patch.

Antenna Design
Fig.1 shows the geometry of inclined slot-loaded rectangular patch antenna. The dimensions and feed point (50 Ohm coaxial cable) location of the proposed antenna has been calculated by using modal expansion cavity model [5]. Here, following parameters were used for design of the proposed antenna. z Design frequency = 3.0 GHz Free space wavelength ( ) = 100 mm L Dielectric constant (bakelite) = 4.78 Loss tangent = tan = 0.04 Patch Thickness of the substrate (h) = 0.0159 Length of the patch (L) = 0.225 Width of the patch (W) = 0.294 Location of feed point (x, y) = (14.7, 7.5) mm
y Slot W

x
Coaxial cable

Fig.1 Geometry of inclined slot-loaded rectangular patch antenna

1-4244-0123-2/06/$20.00 2006 IEEE

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Dimensions of the inclined slot = (20 2) mm In the proposed antenna design the slot is located at a distance of 2.0 mm away from the left radiating edge (width) and at a distance of 2.35 mm from both non-radiating edges (length) of the patch as shown in Fig.1. It is to be noted that four set of antennas has been designed for the slot inclination angle (100, 200 & 400), keeping others parameter same in all cases.

Fig.2 (a) Variation of input impedance with frequency for slot inclination angle= 100

Fig.2 (b) Variation of input impedance with frequency for slot inclination angle= 200

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Fig.2 (c) Variation of input impedance with frequency for slot inclination angle= 400

2 0

Frequency (GHz) 4

-10

Return loss (dB)

-20
Angle (degree)=10 Angle (degree)=20 Angle (degree)=40

-30

-40

-50
Fig.3 Variation of return loss with frequency for different slot inclination angles

Experimental Results and Discussion

The proposed antenna has been constructed and tested at ISRO (SAC), Ahmedabad. Fig.2 (a), Fig.2 (b) & Fig.2 (c) shows the variation of input impedance with frequency for different slot inclination angle. It is observed that antenna resonates at two

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frequencies. The variation of return loss with frequency for different slot inclination angle is shown as in Fig.3. It is found that lower resonance frequency decrease and upper resonance frequency increases with increasing the slot inclination angle. It is evidently clear that the separation between the two resonance frequencies increases with increasing the slot inclination angle. This is also corroborated from Fig.4.

6 5 Frequency (GHz) 4 3 2 1 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 Slot inclination angle (degree)

Fig.4 Variation of lower (f1) and upper (f2) resonance frequencies with slot inclination angle

f1 f2

Conclusions
It is concluded that rectangular microstrip patch antenna with inclined slot resonates at two frequencies. The frequency ratio can be varied from 1.87 to 2.45 with the slot inclination angle. This behavior makes the proposed antenna more suitable for applications where a higher frequency ratio is required.

References:
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] S. Maci, G. Biffi Gentili, P. Piazzesi, and C. Salvador, Dual-band slot loaded patch antenna, IEE Proc. H Microwave Antennas Propag, vol.142, no.3, pp.225232, March. 1995. W. R. Richards, S. E. Davidson, and S. A. Long, Dual-band reactively loaded microstrip antenna, IEEE Trans. on Antennas and Propagation, vol. AP-33, no.5, pp. 556-561, May. 1985. S. E. Davidson, S. A. Long, and W. R. Richards, Dual-band microstrip antenna with monolithic reactive loading, Electronics Lett., vol.21, no.21, pp. 936-937, 1985. I. J. Bahl and P. Bhartia, Microstrip Antennas. (Massachusetts): Artech House, pp. 44-48 and pp. 56-57, 1980. B. F. Wong, and Y. T. Lo, Microstrip antenna for dual frequency operations, IEEE Trans. on Antennas and Propagation, vol. AP-32, no.9, pp. 938-943, Sept. 1984.

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