Dielectric Resonator Antenna

The objective of this proposal is to design and develop multimode dielectric resonator antennas (DRAs) operating in a wide frequency band from 30 MHz to 2 GHz covering VHF/UHF Line-of-site (LOS) communications, UHF Satellite communications, and L band including GPS frequencies. The DRA elements have many advantages such as wideband nature, small size, and high power capability as compared with microstrip antennas. The DRA is often made of high dielectric constant materials with very low loss tangent, which makes it attractive for high frequency applications where the conduction loss will be much smaller than for microstrip antennas. DRA elements are essentially lossless and have high radiation efficiency when appropriately excited. Thus, DRAs may be able to meet performance requirements at a lower power level, or may be able to even further improve performance due to their higher power handling capability. Because they are resonant antennas, however, their configuration must be carefully designed to achieve the desired bandwidth, polarization characteristics, and radiation patterns.