Wideband Microstrip Patch Array Antenna for Synthetic Aperture Radar Applications

A wideband high-gain microstip patch array antenna for high resolution synthetic aperture radar applications is presented. The antenna operation frequency is in the X-band. The antenna structure is a four-layer configuration consisting of radiating patches, slots, coupling cavities, and a corporate feeding network, which in turn is fed by a coaxial probe. The increased frequency bandwidth of the radiating patch is achieved by employing a square slot, which appears as a cavity for it, and improves the gain and impedance bandwidth of the antenna array by isolating the patch feeding slot and eliminating the mutual coupling effect. The whole antenna structure is fabricated by using a combination of the milling process and printed circuit technology. Measurement results show a relative gain bandwidth of more than 10%, in which the antenna gain is measured above 28.8 dBi over the frequency band of more than 1 GHz. Moreover, the relative impedance bandwidth of the antenna for VSWR>2 is more than 16%.