Difficulties in patch antenna production & prototyping in Turkey

Abstract

In recent years monetary narrowing impact more on Turkey and developing countries. Therefore, the importance of industrial policy and technology management in developing countries has widely increased. Production and design strategies have to be planned carefully. Thus, evidently monetary narrowing and undesired exchange rate fluctuation affected investment and the cash flow in numerous sectors such as finances, funding, industry, service industry, agribusiness, livestock, building trade, research, and development, etc. In this context, this situation broadly hit the research, prototyping, manufacturing, and testing phase of the microstrip patch antennas. Today, patch antennas have widely utilized in telecommunication systems. Hence, this growth has increased interest in studies. As it is in every project, cost and efficiency are an essential part of the project design. Therefore, the ratio of cost is more important for Turkey and developing countries due to undesired exchange rate fluctuation, tax, financial obligations, and unexpected world events (e.g. COVID-19 pandemic). Commonly, the microstrip patch antenna comprises particular parts such as a radiating patch on top of the double-sided laminate and ground plane and feeding point located below the double-sided laminate. Therefore, microstrip patch antenna components play a significant role in patch antenna radiation characteristics. Moreover, specifications of the double-sided laminate, such as relative permittivity (or dielectric constant) and real physical thickness are essential elements of the patch antenna's radiation characteristics. Generally, high-quality dielectric substrates are developed and manufactured by western originated companies. Thus, the dielectric substrate with high-grade characteristics is hard to find for Turkey and developing countries. Importing is the only option and quite costly. Choosing a domestic dielectric substrate is inevitable, however insufficient for many cases. In this study, difficulties in microstrip patch antenna production and prototyping in Turkey are analyzed.