A Millimeter-Wave Inflatable Frequency-Agile Elastomeric Antenna

作者：Hage Ali Sami^*; Tiercelin Nicolas; Coquet Philippe; Sauleau Ronan; Preobrazhensky Vladimir; Pernod Philippe

来源：IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters, 2010, 9: 1131-1134.

DOI：10.1109/LAWP.2010.2096405

• Inflatable
• membrane
• polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)
• reconfigurable antennas
• tunable

This letter reports a millimeter-wave frequency-agile microstrip antenna printed on an ultrasoft elastomeric polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate. The microstrip patch antenna is supported by a PDMS membrane suspended over an air cavity. The distance between the patch and the ground plane, and thus the resonant frequency of the antenna, are tuned using pneumatic actuation, taking advantage of the extreme softness of the PDMS membrane. A continuous frequency shift varying from 55.35 to 51 GHz (approximate to 8%) has been obtained for a tuning range of H between 200 and 575 mu m. In all configurations, the antenna remains matched and its radiation characteristics are very satisfactory.

• 出版日期2010