RADIATION AND SCATTERING CHARACTERISTICS OF MICROSTRIP ANTENNAS ON NORMALLY BIASED FERRITE SUBSTRATES

Radiation and scattering characteristics of microstrip antennas and arrays printed on ferrite substrates with a normal magnetic bias field are described. The extra degree of freedom offered by the biased ferrite can be used to obtain a number of novel characteristics, including switchable and tunable circularly polarized radiation from a microstrip antenna having a single feed point, dynamic wide-angle impedance matching for phased arrays of microstrip antennas, and a switchable radar cross section (RCS) reduction technique for microstrip antennas. Results are obtained from full-wave moment method solutions for single microstrip antennas and infinite arrays of microstrip antennas. A cavity model solution for a circular patch antenna on a biased ferrite substrate is also presented, to aid in understanding the operation of these antennas.