FORMULAS FOR THE COMPUTATION OF THE PHYSICAL-PROPERTIES OF RECTANGULAR MICROSTRIP ANTENNA ELEMENTS WITH VARIOUS SUBSTRATE THICKNESSES

Formulas available in the literature for the design of the physical pr operties of rectangular microstrip antenna elements are discussed and their validity is assessed. Their variations haw been experimentally e xamined by analyzing a set of newly designed antenna elements with sub strates satisfying the criterion h less than or equal to 0.0815 lambda (0) for 2.22 less than or equal to epsilon(r) less than or equal to 10 .2 where lambda(0) is the free-space wavelength h is the thickness, an d epsilon(r) is the relative permittivity of the dielectric substrate. New formulas that can determine the antenna physical properties and t he effective dielectric constant are empirically determined. (C) 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.