A theoretical investigation of the rectangular microstrip antenna element

A theoretical treatment of the rectangular microstrip radiating element has been performed. The element has been modeled as a line resonator with radiation taking place at the open-circuited ends. This has been verified by using a liquid crystal visual detector. With the simplified model, the input impedance and the far fields have been calculated for different resonant modes. The interaction between the radiating ends will effect the input impedance, and this has been considered by defining a mutual conductance. Also, a mutual conductance between microstrip elements has been expressed in far-field quantities and plotted as a function of spacing along the - and - planes. The directivity of an isolated element has been calculated as the directivity of one radiating end times the contribution due to the array factor.