Electromagnetic Simulation, Analysis and Design with Application to Antennas and Radar Absorbers

Abstract: The present thesis considers two different subjects in the research area of electromagnetics. The first part is concerned with antenna design and the second with radar absorbers and rasorber.In the first part, a novel excitation technique for cylindrical dielectric resonator antennas is introduced to produce circular polarization. The exciter is a tape helix that is wound around the dielectric resonator and is fed by a coaxial probe. The helix excites the HE11σ modes in phase quadrature in the cylindrical dielectric resonator antenna. The height of the helix is determined using the Hansen-Woodyard condition for an end-fire array based on the phase velocity of the surface wave traveling along the dielectric resonator side wall. This phase velocity is estimated from the phase velocity in an infinitely long dielectric rod with the same permittivity and radius as the dielectric resonator antenna. The helical exciter is required to operate in the helix axial mode. The height of the helix is usually taller than the height of the dielectric resonator core. Using this type of excitation, a 3 dB axial-ratio bandwidth of 6.4% was achieved for a sample design with dielectric constant εr ~ 11. The achieved 3 dB axial-ratio bandwidth is greater than that typical of other reported single feed cylindrical dielectric resonator antennas. A prototype of the sample design is fabricated and measured and a good agreement between simulation and measurement is observed. Furthermore, two approaches for the enhancement of the 3 dB axial ratio bandwidth are proposed: removing the central portion of the cylindrical dielectric resonator and using stacked cylinders. The advantages and limitations of each approach are discussed. Another perspective on the proposed design is to consider the antenna as a helix with a dielectric resonator core. In this perspective, the effects of the dielectric core on the helix antenna are discussed.The second part of the thesis is concerned with the design of thin wideband electromagnetic planar absorber for X- and KKu-band which also has a polarization sensitive transparent window at frequencies lower than L-band. The design is based on a two layer capacitive circuit absorber with the backmetal layer replaced with a polarization sensitive frequency selective surface. The structure is studied for normally incident waves with two orthogonal linear polarizations. The structure is optimized to have high transparency at low frequencies for one of the polarizations and at the same time good absorption efficiency for both polarizations at the high-frequency band. For one of the polarizations a -1.9 dB transmission with a transmission loss of less than 10% at 1 GHz as well as a 2.25:1 (75%) bandwidth of -20 dB reflection reduction are achieved. For the other polarization we obtained more than 3:1 (100%) bandwidth of -19 dB absorption. Compared with our earlier design based on a Jaumann absorber, we succeed in significantly reducing the transmission loss at the transparent window. Furthermore, the module of absorption quality is extensively improved. The improvements are based on using periodic arrangements of resistive patches in the structure design. The investigation of the structure for oblique angles of incidence and non-ideal materials is also accomplished.