Flexible bow-tie antennas with reduced metallization

This paper presents design, simulation, fabrication and measurement of a modified bow-tie antenna with reduced metallization. The antenna is mounted on a flexible substrate which is fabricated at the Flexible Display Center (FDC) of Arizona State University (ASU). The substrate is heat stabilized polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) which allows the antenna to be flexible. The antenna is fed by the aid of a microstrip-to-coplanar feed network balun. The reduction of the metallization is based on the observation that the majority of the current density is confined towards the edges of the regular bow-tie antenna. Hence, the centers of the triangular parts of the bow-tie antenna are removed. The radiation performance of the modified bow-tie is verified to be very close to the conventional bow-tie by simulations and measurements.