Design of tapered slot antenna operating in coupling liquid for ultrawideband microwave imaging systems

This paper reports the design of a directive antenna for ultra-wideband microwave imaging systems. The antenna is a corrugated tapered slot antenna of compact dimensions (22 mm × 40 mm) immersed in a coupling liquid that is fabricated to improve the matching between the antenna and the imaged object, and thus to increase the dynamic range of the imaging system. The antenna is covered with a dielectric material in order to protect the radiating element from the adverse effects of the coupling liquid. The proposed antenna is designed to operate efficiently across the band from 3.1 GHz to 10.6 GHz. The designed antenna is tested in the presence of a breast phantom.The time domain response of the antenna indicates its capability to support distortionless pulse transmission with a high fidelity factor.