A broadband printed bow-tie antenna with a simplified balanced feed

Abstract

A broadband printed bow-tie antenna with a simplified balanced feeding network and modified tapering is presented. Microstrip and parallel-strip transmission lines printed on the substrate with high dielectric permittivity realize the proposed feeding network. The ground-plane transition between the microstrip line and the parallel-strip line is exponentially tapered so as to reduce the reflection losses and produce a balanced feed for the antenna. This printed bow-tie antenna achieves a 68% measured bandwidth and a stable radiation pattern within the X-band. Commercial FEM software is used for optimization of the bow-tie antenna and the simulation results agree very well with the experiment. © 2005 Wiley Peri odicals, Inc.