RC-loaded bow-tie antenna for improved pulse radiation

In this paper, a loading technique for improving pulse radiation from bow-tie antennas is introduced. This technique allows transmission of short transient pulses with very small late-time ringing and relatively high radiation efficiency. It makes use of a combination of a constant resistive loading along the antenna and a capacitive loading with linearly increasing reactance toward the antenna ends. The constant resistive loading is applied using volumetric microwave absorbers to cover one side of the antenna and the linear capacitive loading is realized by constructing narrow slots on the antenna surface. Relatively high radiation efficiency is achieved by choosing the location of the slot nearest to the feed point in such a way that radiation from it combines constructively with radiation from the feed point. Using a 0.8-ns monocycle for excitation, the technique results in a level of late-time ringing of lower than -40 dB and at the same time the peak value of the transmitted pulse is 54% higher than that of the same antenna without loading.