Mutual coupling between aperture antennas covered with a dielectric slab

• Main Author: Yap, Alvin Ting Yew.
• Other Authors: Shen Zhongxiang
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Electrical and electronic engineering::Antennas, wave guides, microwaves, radar, radio
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/18192
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Mutual coupling is an adverse effect faced by most antenna systems today, which causes signal degradation. Multiple methods of correcting it have been documented and these can be broadly categorized into namely, Compensation via post-measurement computation, Modifications to existing antenna structures and Structures added to existing antenna structures. Preliminary testings conducted have shown that through the introduction of a dielectric slab, it is observed that the coupling of the array elements can be reduced. Various designs have been simulated against both the Patch and the Aperture antenna. The patch antenna was realized to be inappropriate for the use of this analysis due to the nature of its electric fields, which were highly concentrated and confined to the area under the patch element. The aperture antenna was therefore used instead, with the most practical scenario returning an improvement of 17 dB. A more in-depth look at how the mutual coupling is being reduced indicates that it is mainly due to a change of impedance, which affects the corresponding electric field. Since the electric field is the main cause of the mutual coupling problem, by reducing it along the axis of the other antenna elements, the mutual coupling between these elements can thus be reduced.