Controllable radiation characteristics of electromagnetic coupled plane microstrip disc array antennas

Novel EM coupled feeding structures, such as slot line feed and aperture coupled feed, are proposed and discussed. The advantages of these structures are shown in millimeter wave range for monolithic integrated antennas. For low frequency applications, the mutual coupling between plane radiating elements can also be used to excite an array. The electromagnetic energy can transfer between either of the active and passive elements. By placing a few passive elements surrounding the active elements in the center, all elements of the system can be excited and radiate energy. Examples of simplest array configurations are shown. By choosing the distance between the elements and changing the load of passive elements, the desired radiation characteristics can be obtained.