Design and Characterization of HTS antenna array with sequential rotation array

순차적 순환배열을 이용한 고온초전도 배열 안테나 설계 및 특성해석

We report the performance of a four-element, 11.67 GHz, high-Tc superconducting (HTS) microstrip antenna array with corporate feed network and circular polarization for direct broadcasting satellite (DBS) system. Our array antennas were designed and built on a 0.5 mm thick MgO substrate. To compare the superconducting antennas with normal conducting counterpart, One antenna pattern was fabricated from gold thin film, and a second pattern was fabricated from $YBa_2Cu_3O_{7-x}$ (YBCO) superconducting thin film. To improve the axial ratio of circularly polarized arrays, sequential rotation technique were used. Efficiency, radiation pattern, return loss and bandwidth were measured for both antennas at room temperature and at cryogenic temperature. The array produced good circular polarization, and the gain of the array at 77 K, relative to a copper array at room temperature was approximately 1.54 dB. The measured return loss of our HTS antenna array was 35.79 dB at the resonant frequency of 11.67 GHz and The total effective bandwidth was about 3.4 %. The results showed that high-temperature superconductors, when used in microstrip arrays, improved the efficiency of the HTS antenna array for circularly polarization.