Research Update: Microstrip line uses layered dielectrics for front-side antenna patch

By using multiple layers of dielectric material on a pc board, engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have developed a microstrip-line patch antenna that mounts on the front of a pc board and is easy to electrically couple to the electronics. The thin, inexpensive design uses a ground plane on the underside of the high-permittivity pc-board substrate and a low-permittivity-dielectric spacer layer on the top side; the microstrip patch radiator caps all sides.

Designers can use the pc-board area under the ground plane for conventional circuitry. Because there is no feed circuitry behind the ground plane, the patch antenna needs no through hole in the ground plane, minimizing RF leakage. For more, go to the September 2005 issue of Tech Briefs at www.techbriefs.com.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Jet Propulsion Laboratory, www.jpl.nasa.gov.