QUARTZ FIBER RADOME AND SUBSTRATE FOR AEROSPACE APPLICATIONS

Abstract

This study investigated the use of quartz fiber as an antenna radome and a dielectric substrate for a patch antenna designed to operate at f=8 GHz. To compare the performance of quartz fiber as an antenna radome, glass fiber is examined for the same antenna. For the substrate case, quartz fiber is compared with the well-known and widely used dielectric substrate, FR-4. The electromagnetic properties of the quartz fiber were examined for different temperature values using a free space measurement setup and a controllable furnace. The complex electrical permittivity (ε) values of glass and quartz fiber are measured using a free-space setup. The antenna parameters, including radiation pattern, gain, return loss, and beamwidth, are investigated and compared in detail for all cases to demonstrate the effects of the use of quartz fiber as a radome and an antenna substrate