Low Profile Dynamic Patch Antenna Array With High-Intensity Radiation Fields (HIRF) Protection

A 1-bit low-profile patch antenna array integrating beam scanning and adaptive high-intensity radiation fields (HIRF) protection is proposed in this paper. Each antenna element consists of two dielectric layers, two radiation patches, a ground plane, and a feeding network. By electronically controlling a pair of coding diodes in the same direction, the antenna element can achieve 180 $^\circ$ phase difference, producing two logical states, namely “0” and “1”. It has good beam scanning capability in the range of −60 $^\circ$ to 60 $^\circ$ . When the proposed antenna is exposed to HIRF, the protective diodes mounted over the grounded coplanar waveguide (GCPW) transmission line are triggered, dramatically reducing the overall gain of the antenna array. By optimizing design, the element possesses a bandwidth of 8.8 $\sim$ 9.3 GHz. The grating lobe of the antenna array is suppressed by 17.5 dB thanks to the adoption of the non-uniform feed. The simulation results indicate that the proposed antenna element and array have a high isolation degree of 22.4 dB and 23.2 dB when exposed to HIRF, respectively. Finally, a prototype of the antenna is fabricated, and the validity of the proposed design is experimentally verified. The experimental results are in good agreement with the simulation results, demonstrating the validity of the proposed design.