Efficiency Enhancement Using Gold in THz MSPA for Body Centric Wireless Communication

A unique, gold-based, saw tooth-shaped terahertz microstrip patch antenna (MSPA) design has been presented in this research work for body centric wireless communication (BCWC). The performance of the antenna is first investigated in open space and then over the human skin with four different separations. The antenna resonates around 0.744 THz in free space, with a wide bandwidth over 183 GHz. The design also produces a healthy gain over 5.11 dBi which increased further during over-the-skin simulations. To verify the human-body effect on the antenna performance parameters, a 3D human skin layer block was virtually created with all essential physical and electromagnetic characteristic data and tested the antenna in its close vicinity with different separation levels. The antenna's performance was found to be very stable, even when it had only a half-millimeter gap from the body. Introducing gold in the radiator and ground has significantly increased the efficiency as the antenna achieves over 90 percent efficiency even on the on-body analysis.