Generation of nearly hemispherical and high gain azimuthally symmetric patterns with printed circuit antennas

Pattern shaping techniques are discussed for printed circuit antennas such as microstrip dipoles and slot elements. Crossed printed circuit dipoles or a combination of a printed circuit dipole and a slot are employed. It is demonstrated that with the proper choice of substrate or substrate-superstrate parameters it is possible to generate: 1) nearly hemispherical patterns, 2) high-gain azimuthally symmetric patterns, and 3) nearly patterns.