부산대학교 도서관

As telecommunications and radar systems are increasingly being designed to operate at higher and higher frequencies in the millimetre wave band, antenna designers have looked arrays, with feed networks based in microwave integrated circuit (MIC) technology, to meet the antenna requirements of these systems. Most of the research and design into arrays for millimetre wave applications has focused on various configurations of microstrip patch antennas (MPAs). Unfortunately, this technology may be pushed to its limits at higher frequencies, where conductor losses of the metal patch and surface wave losses become more serious problems. As well, MPAs are inherently narrowband devices, typically offering a bandwidth of 1 to 2 % of the operating frequency, making them unsuitable for many wideband telecommunications applications. One is left with the need for an antenna array element which is efficient and wideband at higher frequencies, and is easily integrated with MIC subsystem components.