Substrates with non-uniform 3D geometries for miniaturization of microstrip patch antennas and aesthetic design

Microstrip patch antennas are popular as they simple to design and are directional which allow them to be placed in close proximity to other objects. These are traditionally made from etching printed circuit boards. However, new emerging manufacturing techniques and applications which include additive manufacturing, 3D printing and textile antennas allow new 3D geometries to be considered. It is only convention that determines that the substrate should have a uniform thickness. It is widely known that the electric fields in a microstrip patch antenna substrate are not uniform and therefore this could be utilized to improve the performance or aesthetics of the antenna by making the contoured shape into a design feature [Whittow, “AERIAL”, MOTL, vol. 55, no. 8, pp. 1711-1714, 2013].