Abstract
In this publication, the use of a dielectric paste for dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) design is investigated. The dielectric paste can serve as an alternative approach of manufacturing a dielectric resonator antenna by subsequently filling a mold with the dielectric paste. The dielectric paste is obtained by mixing nanoparticle sized barium strontium titanate (BST) powder with a silicone rubber. The dielectric constant of the paste can be adjusted by varying the BST powder content with respect to the silicone rubber content. The tuning range of the dielectric constant of the paste was found to be from 3.67 to 18.45 with the loss tangent of the mixture being smaller than 0.044. To demonstrate the idea of the dielectric paste approach, a circularly polarized DRA with wide bandwidth, which is based on a fractal geometry, is designed. The antenna is realized by filling a 3D-printed mold with the dielectric paste material, and the prototype was found to have an axial ratio bandwidth of 16.7% with an impedance bandwidth of 21.6% with stable broadside radiation.
Highlights
Design of Dielectric ResonatorDielectric resonator antennas (DRA) have been researched extensively for the last three decades since their first introduction in 1983 [1]
A fully printable phase shifter could be constructed. This new approach can help to avoid the use of expensive substrates, which are commonly used for such applications
Other examples of compound materials include conductive materials, which can be used for flexible or conformable antenna designs, such as patch antennas [17], flexible antenna substrates with adjustable dielectric constant [18], ceramic epoxy resin composite materials used for antenna miniaturization [19], or flexible magnetic polymer composite substrates with equal permittivities and permeabilities for antenna miniaturization [20]
Summary
Design of Dielectric ResonatorDielectric resonator antennas (DRA) have been researched extensively for the last three decades since their first introduction in 1983 [1]. DRAs [12], multiple circular sector DRAs [13], or have notches [14] and hollow regions in their DRA structures [15] These structures, even though they may possess remarkable features, such as wide bandwidths, high gains, or multi-band operation, may not be manufactured using common methods and materials. In [16], a printable dielectric ink was developed, which was loaded with ferroelectric nano-particles Using this ink, a fully printable phase shifter could be constructed. Despite the obvious advantage of sparing manufacturing cost, another advantage of such compound materials is that they can typically be tuned according to the need This is especially useful for research and development activities
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call