Nanomaterial-Based Microstrip Patch Antenna Array for X Band Operation

Antenna designers around the globe have extensively researched upon the patch antenna and its array structures for achieving better performance for various operations. One of the novel techniques is to use nanomaterial composites over the substrate of a microstrip patch antenna to enhance its performance. Nanostructures can provide unique characteristics and have the potential to improve the performance of the patch antenna. This paper focuses on the study and design of a nanomaterial-based 1 × 2 rectangular microstrip patch antenna array for X band operation. The proposed antenna array is designed over an FR4 substrate where the individual radiating patches are realized using gold deposited Zinc Oxide (ZnO) nanorods. The comparison of performance parameters of the proposed antenna array with the conventional copper (Cu)-based patch antenna array is made. The results obtained show that there is an improvement in the return loss and bandwidth of the proposed array structure.