Small UWB antenna with improved efficiency for pulse radiation

The paper describes an ultra-wideband (UWB) antenna developed for impulse ground penetrating radar (GPR) applications. The antenna is a modified bow-tie antenna designed for short-range GPR applications such as road inspection and non-destructive testing of concrete. For these applications, the transmitted pulses should have minimal ringing to avoid masking of targets. This can be achieved by the application of resistive loading at the expense of radiation efficiency. We have attempted to improve a conventional bow-tie antenna usually used in GPR by reducing the antenna size and minimizing ringing, while at the same time improving the antenna radiation efficiency.