292 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 49, NO.

2, FEBRUARY 2001

Design and Performance of Large Phased Arrays of

Aperture Stacked Patches
Rod B. Waterhouse, Member, IEEE

Abstract—We present a technique to achieve large-bandwidth microstrip patches into large scannable arrays as surface wave
and low-profile printed phased arrays that can give good sky cov- effects associated with the dielectric laminates used to fab-
erage; that is, a reasonable scan range and, therefore, may be suited ricate the antenna can limit the scanning range of the array
to applications such as radio astronomy. The microstrip arrays
consist of aperture stacked patches and can exhibit VSWR 2 : 1 [5]. In [6], an aperture stacked patch (ASP) was proposed
bandwidths in excess of an octave over a scanning range of 45 in and investigated. This form of microstrip antenna can have
the principal planes. A thorough investigation of these microstrip impedance and radiation bandwidths in excess of an octave
phased arrays is given using an infinite array analysis and a de- as well as all the other features associated with microstrip
sign strategy to achieve broad-band characteristics is proposed. It technology given earlier.
will be shown that the element spacing and the dielectric material
thicknesses are critical in optimizing the scan/bandwidth perfor- In this paper, we investigate the impedance response and
mance. scanning performance of a large array of ASPs. In particular, we
explore techniques to optimize the VSWR bandwidth
Index Terms—Microstrip arrays, phased arrays.
over the maximum scanning range. It will be shown that band-
widths in excess of an octave can be achieved over a scanning
I. INTRODUCTION range of 45 in the principal planes making this technology a
possible alternative to TSA phased array solutions.
T HERE are several applications requiring antennas with
pencil-beam radiation patterns that can be scanned over
a large volume. One such application is for radio astronomy
The paper is organized as follows. Section II describes the
configuration and the theory used to investigate a large (or in-
where a scannable pencil-beam pattern is necessary to reduce finite) array of ASPs. Section III presents a design strategy to
the effect of interference sources, for example, man-made achieve bandwidths in excess of an octave for large arrays of
satellites [1]. In this application, other requirements include ASPs and also how to maximize the scanning range of these
large bandwidths (typically in excess of an octave), a constant arrays. In particular, the effects of parameters, such as element
field of view (i.e., wide main beam), and dual polarization. spacing and laminate thicknesses, on the overall performance
In addition, the cost of an element should be low since many will be provided. Finally, the conclusions of this work are given
elements are needed for a large collecting area required to yield in Section IV.
high sensitivity [2].
II. CONFIGURATION AND THEORY
Recent investigations of versions of the tapered slot antenna
(TSA) have resulted in excellent impedance/active element gain To ascertain the performance of a large array of ASPs,
characteristics with scanning ranges up to 40 in the principal the problem can be treated as an infinite array. Fig. 1 shows
planes over more than an octave for a VSWR [3]. A set- a schematic diagram of the unit cell of this array. Here a
back to the incorporation of this technology into large scanning microstrip line (width ) terminated with an open circuit
arrays for radio astronomy applications is the structural com- stub feeds an aperture in the ground plane
plexity of the TSA and, hence, the associated production cost. and two rectangular microstrip patches ( and ,
Also, TSAs generate somewhat high cross-polarization levels in respectively) are parasitically coupled to this slot. Each patch
the diagonal plane and, therefore, a relatively complicated an- is etched on an associated dielectric material with dielectric
tenna arrangement is necessary to reduce these levels for dual constants and thicknesses of and , respectively.
polarization applications. The feed line is etched on a substrate of dielectric constant
Microstrip patch antenna technology can satisfy some of and thickness . The unit cell size of the phased array is in
the aforementioned requirements for radio astronomy; in par- the direction and in the direction. As was the case in [6],
ticular, the low-cost criterion and also the ease in which dual the aperture in Fig. 1 is not only used to couple the microstrip
polarization can be achieved. However, microstrip technology feed to the patches, but also as a radiator. To determine the
in its conventional form cannot yield the large bandwidths performance of the ASP in an infinite array environment, the
required [4]. Also, care must be taken when incorporating analysis in [6] was modified using the approach outlined in [5].
The analysis used here is based on the spectral domain integral
Manuscript received January 19, 2000; revised July 11, 2000. This project equation technique with boundary conditions enforced using
was supported by the Australia Telescope National Facility CSIRO. the Galerkin method and incorporates multilayered Greens
The author is with the Department of Communication and Electronic functions as given in [7]. The interaction between the slot and
Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne VIC 3001, Australia (e-mail:
[email protected]). the microstrip line is modeled using the reciprocity method
Publisher Item Identifier S 0018-926X(01)01266-2. outlined in [8] and [9]. The ASP configuration analysis uses
0018–926X/01$10.00 ©2001 IEEE
WATERHOUSE: LARGE PHASED ARRAYS OF APERTURE STACKED PATCHES 293

(a)

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the unit cell of the infinite array of ASP (w :
width of feedline; L : length of open circuit stub; " : dielectric constant
of feed substrate; d : thickness of feed substrate; tan  : loss tangent of
feed substrate; " : dielectric constant of antenna substrate #1, d : thickness
of antenna substrate #1; tan  : loss tangent of antenna substrate #1; " :
dielectric constant of antenna substrate #2; d : thickness of antenna substrate
#2; tan  : loss tangent of antenna substrate #2; L : ith patch length; W : ith
patch width S : length of aperture; S : width of aperture; a: element spacing
in the x-direction; b: element spacing in the y -direction).

five entire domain basis functions on each patch and the slot
for scanning in the -plane ( and the orthogonal set of
modes on the patches with scanning in the -plane ).
The computation time per frequency point for each analysis
with scanning in the -plane is approximately three seconds
using a 400-MHz Pentium II processor running Digital Visual
Fortran (Version 5.0).

III. DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE

A. Array Design
There are many degrees of freedom in the design of an ASP
antenna and so there may be several alternative configurations (b)
that can yield a similar broad-band impedance response. To ob-
tain a better understanding of an infinite array of ASPs, the de-
sign procedure in [6] was adopted here such that the impedance Fig. 2. Input impedance of some infinite arrays of ASPs computed using a
spectral domain analysis. (a) Parameters: " = 2:2, d = 3:175 mm, " =
performance of the infinite array of ASPs can be easily com- 1:07, d = 3 mm, L = W = 9:1 mm, L = W = 10 mm, S = 10
pared to that of the single ASP. mm, S = 1 mm, " = 2:33, d = 1:6 mm, w = 4:75 mm, L = 3:4
Fig. 2(a) shows the impedance response of an infinite array mm, a = b = 13 mm. (b) Parameters: same as in (a) except d = 1:7 mm,
d = 2:1 mm, and L = 5 mm.
of the ASP presented in [6, Fig. 4(b)] at broadside .
Here the element spacing corresponds to at 11.5 GHz. A
more in-depth investigation of the effect of the element spacing loop on the Smith chart. Reducing the laminate thicknesses and
on the performance of the array will be presented later. As can shortening the open circuit termination, the impedance locus in
be seen from the Smith chart in Fig. 2(a) and also the lam- Fig. 2(b) is achieved. The thinner substrates are necessary due
inate thickness trends presented in [6, figs. 7, 8], and to the mutual coupling between the unit cells, of which has a
are too thick for a large array of ASPs. As a result, the mu- similar effect on the impedance performance of a microstrip
tual resonances are poorly coupled, resulting in only the single array as using thicker material. As a consequence of this, for a
294 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 49, NO. 2, FEBRUARY 2001

Fig. 3. Input impedance of an infinite array of ASPs computed using a spectral domain analysis (w l =  ) (parameters: " = 2:2, d = 2:45 mm, " = 1:07,
d = 1:45 mm, L = W = 9:1 mm, L = W = 10 mm, S = 10 mm, S = 1 mm, " = 2:33, d = 1:6 mm, w = 7 mm, L = 3:5 mm, a = b = 17
mm).

set substrate thickness, an array of microstrip patches will have ning capability of the array [12]. This latter fact is more evident
less impedance variation than the same microstrip element by in patch arrays that generate low levels of cross-polarization
itself and, if the material is electrically thin, a greater VSWR such as aperture-coupled patch arrays. For frequencies above
bandwidth will result. The VSWR bandwidth of 11 GHz, the array in Fig. 3 has a VSWR for angles less
this infinite array is 65% compared to 55% for the single ASP than 25 in the -plane. Thus, a good rule of thumb in the de-
[6]. Note here that the patch and slot dimensions have not been sign of large arrays of ASPs is to select an element spacing of
changed from the case presented in [6]. A tradeoff can be made about, but not much greater than, at the highest frequency
with respect to the impedance and radiation performance of the limit of operation. Of course, how close the unit cells can be po-
array. Thicker material and a larger slot can be used to further sitioned is set by the dimensions of the patches and slot.
enhance the bandwidth, however, at the expense of increased
front-to-back ratio and reduced surface wave efficiency. Since B. Scan Performance
the array is to be scanned, surface wave effects were deemed Several researchers have explored the optimum impedance
important and therefore the material selection was considered performance during beam scan for different microstrip patch ar-
satisfactory. rays and present results by plotting the impedance variation of
An important parameter in any array is the element spacing. the array on a Smith chart as a function of not only frequency
Fig. 3 shows the impedance locus for an infinite array of ASPs but scan angle as well (for example, see [13]). Here the varia-
at broadside with an element spacing of at 9 GHz, approx- tion in impedance associated with changing the scan angle for
imately the center of the 10-dB return loss frequency band. As each discrete frequency point is plotted. The philosophy of such
can been from this figure, a similar bandwidth was achieved to an approach is to determine what is the best impedance locus
that presented in Fig. 2(b) (once again not changing the patch shape and where should the locus be situated to give the best
or slot dimensions of the single ASP presented in [6]). How- response in terms of frequency and scan variation. For example,
ever, the scanning performance of this array is limited at the if the scan impedance of the array becomes larger and more ca-
higher end of the frequency band by the presence of grating pacitive as the scan angle is increased, centering the impedance
lobes and the associated onset of surface waves. As has been locus at broadside near 30 with a slight inductive reactance
shown before, grating lobes reduce the radiation efficiency of may enhance the scanning capabilities, as opposed to a solution
the printed array [10], [11] and the rapid variation in impedance centered about 50 . With an array of ASPs, of course, there are
due to the presence of a surface wave limits the impedance scan- many degrees of freedom and, therefore, it is very easy to control
WATERHOUSE: LARGE PHASED ARRAYS OF APERTURE STACKED PATCHES 295

Fig. 4. Input impedance of an infinite array of ASPs computed using a spectral domain analysis (parameters: " = 2:2, d = 2 mm, " = 1:07, d = 1:4
mm, L = W = 9:1 mm, L = W = 10 mm, S = 10 mm, S = 1 mm, " = 2:33, d = 1:6 mm, w = 4 mm, L = 4 mm, a = b = 12:5 mm;
frequency increment = 0:125 GHz; scan range = 0 ! 70 ; scan increment = 5 ).

the shape and location of the impedance locus of the antenna, as Fig. 5(a) shows the impedance locus of another infinite array
was pointed out in [6]. Unfortunately, as there is more than one of ASPs at broadside. Here the second resonant loop has been
radiator in the unit cell of a large array of ASPs, the impedance tightened by adjusting the thicknesses of the dielectric mate-
variation as a function of scan angle is not as simple as some rials in an attempt to overcome the -plane problems associ-
less complicated microstrip structures (say, in [13]) and its ori- ated with the previous case. The VSWR broadside band-
entation (whether it is located on the inside or outside of the width of the new array is 73%. Also shown in Fig. 5(a) are the
broadside impedance locus) is very much dependent on which scan impedance variations in the - and -planes at the point
mutual resonance is dominant at the frequency in question. In where the previous case had limited scanning ability. As is ev-
this section, we attempt to determine the best impedance loci ident in Fig. 5(a), the VSWR is less than up to scan an-
shape to give not only a broad-band response but also a good gles of approximately 48 and 58 in the - and -planes, re-
scan performance. spectively, at and near this frequency point. It is interesting to
Fig. 4 shows the impedance locus of an infinite array of ASPs note that the -plane scan performance where the previous case
at broadside. The array has similar slot and patch dimensions as had problems in the -plane does not appear to have been de-
given in the other cases presented here, and the element separa- graded. Fig. 5(b) shows a summary of the scan performance of
tion is at 12 GHz. As can be seen from Fig. 4, the VSWR this array at the band edges and at the center frequency (nor-
bandwidth is 70%, with the impedance locus filling most malized to 50 ). As can be seen from this plot, the scanning
of the area within the VSWR circle. Investigating the performance is significantly better than the previous cases. The
impedance scanning behavior, the -plane performance is quite VSWR in the -plane is less than for all fre-
good with a VSWR for scan angles up to 45 across quency points within the broadside VSWR bandwidth
the entire 70% bandwidth (not shown in the figure). In fact, the up to scan angles of 45 . The -plane performance is greater
scan performance degrades from the lower band-edge (VSWR than 55 across the 5.25–10.5-GHz band. Due to the element
for angles greater than 70 ) as the frequency is increased. spacing being less than at the higher frequency, namely,
The limited scan performance is in the -plane, where between 10.5 GHz, the scan impedance variations are relatively smooth
9.75 GHz and 11.25 GHz the scan angle for a VSWR is with no signs of the impedance mismatches associated with po-
less than 30 , with a minimum of 20 at 10.5 GHz. Shown in tential scan blindnesses.
Fig. 4 are the impedance variations of the array scanning in both Many other simulations were run, and, from these and the
the - and -plane at 10.5 GHz for . As can be cases presented here, it appears that having the broadside
seen from these plots, the - and -plane variations are in dif- impedance locus tightly bound to the center of the Smith
ferent directions as the scan angle is increased, implying that a chart gives the best scanning performance. This reflects the
compromise may be necessary between the scanning ranges in complicated impedance variation of the scanning performance
the two planes. of the array as a function of frequency. It should be noted that
296 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 49, NO. 2, FEBRUARY 2001

of the radiation properties of the ASP array, a single element

was evaluated using the materials given in the caption of Fig. 5.
For this antenna, the front-to-back ratio was greater than 12 dB
for all frequencies and scan angles where the VSWR is less
than . The surface wave efficiency [4] was greater than
84% for the antenna.
It should be noted that a large array of ASPs does not avoid
surface wave problems associated with other printed antenna
arrays. If anything, the array of ASPs will suffer more from
surface wave effects due to its significantly larger bandwidth.
As mentioned previously, the key to avoid these problems is
the element spacing. Of course, this philosophy can be applied
to printed dipoles and conventional patches as well, although
these printed antennas have less degrees of freedom as the ASP
and therefore, it could be difficult to obtain good impedance
matching over a broad range of frequencies.
Like all infinite array solutions [3]–[6], [10]–[13], the results
(a)
typically only hold for the center elements and are not valid for
the edge elements of the array. Once again, due to the many
degrees of freedom of the ASP, it may be possible to modify
the edge elements to optimize their bandwidth using either the
single element solution or a finite array approach. This is cur-
rently under investigation.

IV. CONCLUSION
The design and scan performance of large arrays of ASP an-
tennas has been presented. It has been shown that VSWR
bandwidths in excess of an octave for scanning in the - and
-plane up to 45 and 55 , respectively, can be readily
achieved. The design procedure for these arrays is relatively
straightforward and is based on our previously reported work
for single ASPs with modifications required to the substrate
thicknesses to take into consideration the mutual coupling of the
array. It has been shown that, to maximize the scanning range
of the array, the impedance locus at broadside should be tightly
(b)
bound to 50 . The results presented herein show that microstrip
Fig. 5. (a) Predicted broadside input impedance of an infinite array of ASPs patch technology can be applied to situations where it previously
(parameters: " = 2:2, d = 1:7 mm, " = 1:07, d = 2:1 mm, L =
W = 9:1 mm, L = W = 10 mm, S = 10:5 mm, S = 1 mm, " = would have not been considered such as radio astronomy due to
2:33, d = 1:6 mm, w = 4 mm, L = 5 mm, a = b = 12:5 mm; frequency
!
the large bandwidths and good scanning performance presented
increment = 0:125 GHz; scan range = 0 70 ; scan increment = 5 ); (b) herein.
E - and H -plane active reflection coefficient of the infinite array (normalized to
50 ).
ACKNOWLEDGMENT

the radiation patterns of such an array are another important The author would like to thank B. Thomas, S. Targonski, and
quantity to ascertain the overall performance of the antenna, J. Herd for useful discussions on this topic.
however, it is not possible to determine the far-field patterns
from an infinite array. Although the active element gain [5] REFERENCES
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[9] , “Analysis of an infinite phased array of aperture coupled search), and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Queensland, Australia, in
microstrip patches,” IEEE Trans. Antennas Propagat., vol. 37, pp. 1987, 1990, and 1994, respectively.
418–424, Apr. 1989. In 1994, he joined the Department of Communication and Electronic Engi-
[10] , “Scanning characteristics of infinite arrays of printed antenna sub- neering at the RMIT University, where he is currently a Senior Lecturer. In 2000,
arrays,” IEEE Trans. Antennas Propagat., vol. 40, pp. 666–674, June he became a Member of the Australian Photonics Cooperative Research Centre
1992. at the same university and is a Key Researcher there. He has published over 120
[11] D. Novak and R. B. Waterhouse, “Impedance behavior and scan per- papers in these areas. His research interests include printed antennas, phased ar-
formance of microstrip patch arrays configurations suitable for optical rays, optically distributed wireless systems, and photonic devices for microwave
beamforming networks,” IEEE Trans. Antennas Propagat., vol. 42, pp. applications.
432–435, Mar. 1994. Dr. Waterhouse is the Chair of the IEEE Victorian MTTS/APS Chapter.