Edge-fed patch antennas with reduced spurious radiation

In this paper, a technique to reduce the spurious feed radiation from edge-fed patch antennas by using a dual thickness substrate is presented. A thin microwave substrate is employed for the feed network, and then a transition is made to a thick substrate for the patch antenna element. The new feeding procedure allows the feed network and antenna elements to be optimized independently. Measured results on a single element prototype exhibit a reduction in the level of cross-polarized fields and decreased pattern distortion whilst preserving a reasonable impedance bandwidth. The technique is also proven to be beneficial in an array environment, as an extensive transmission line feed network is required. We present the theoretical and experimental results of a 1 x 8 edge-fed patch array that utilizes the dual thickness substrate configuration. Significant improvement in the radiation patterns and gain are observed for the new array compared to a standard edge-fed patch array.