Importance

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Abstract

A class of antennas that comprise an electrically conductive fractal pattern disposed on a dielectric substrate and are capable of construction in a size measured in centimeters as compared to previous antennas of the same class that measured in meters. One antenna style has a ground plane that is perpendicular to the substrate and another style has a ground plane that is parallel to the substrate. The substrate has a dielectric constant of in the range of about 10 to 600 or more and may be a ferroelectric, such as barium strontium titanate. A bias voltage applied across the substrate can tune the antenna for operation in a particular frequency range. The antenna can be made especially wideband by placing an absorbing material behind the substrate. The fractal pattern may be any fractal pattern, such as Hilbert curve, Koch curve, Sierpinski gasket and Sierpinski carpet. One style of the antenna uses a fractal pattern that has a plurality of segments arranged in a first configuration and a switch disposed to alter the first configuration to one or more other configurations. The antenna elements may also be arranged in a phased array.

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First Claim