Frequency notched ultra-wideband

microstrip slot antenna with fractal

tuning stub
W.J. Lui, C.H. Cheng, Y. Cheng and H. Zhu
A frequency notched ultra-wideband (UWB) microstrip slot antenna
with a fractal tuning stub is proposed. The antenna is similar to a
conventional microstrip slot antenna, and by introducing a fractal
tuning stub, frequency notched function is achieved. The antenna was
studied experimentally regarding impedance bandwidth, radiation
patterns and gain. The operation bandwidth of the antenna is from
2.66 to 10.76 GHz, in which a frequency notched band from 4.95 to
5.85 GHz was achieved, along with good radiation performance over
the entire frequency range.

Introduction: Recently, there has been much interest in developing

high data rate systems known as ultra-wideband (UWB) communication systems. In order to avoid interfering with nearby communication
systems such as wireless LAN (WLAN) systems, a UWB antenna
with frequency notched function is desirable, and some design
schemes have been reported recently [13]. The printed slot antenna
is an important candidate scheme for compact, integrable UWB
antennas, and many attempts have been made to increase the operation bandwidth of printed slot antennas [46]. However, none of these
slot antennas have frequency notched function.
In this Letter, a novel ultra-wideband microstrip slot antenna with
frequency notched function is proposed. The antenna is similar to
conventional printed slot antennas, but a fractal tuning stub has been
employed to achieve frequency notched function. The operation bandwidth of the antenna is from 2.66 to 10.76 GHz, in which a frequency
notched band from 4.95 to 5.85 GHz has been achieved, and relative
omnidirectional and stable radiation patterns over the entire frequency
range have also been achieved.

Fig. 2 Photograph of proposed antenna

Fig. 3 Calculated and measured return losses of proposed antenna

Description of antenna: The schematic diagram of the antenna and

its dimension parameters are shown in Fig. 1. The tuning stub has a
fractal shape 18 mm wide and 18mm long. The antenna is fed by a
microstrip line 23.7 mm long and 2.8 mm wide. The antenna is
fabricated on a dielectric substrate with relative permittivity
er 2.65, loss tan d of 0.001 and thickness h 1 mm. The total
volume of the antenna is 48
41
1 mm3. The wide slot and tuning
stub is positioned in such a way that the total antenna can easily be
integrated with other microwave circuits. A photograph of the antenna
is shown in Fig. 2.
feed line
(connected to radio circuits)

fractal tuning stub

20.3

2.8

18
23.7
18
1

top layer

wide slot

23.4

30
41

48
bottom layer

Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of proposed antenna (units in mm)

Fig. 4 Measured radiation patterns of proposed antenna

a zx-plane radiation patterns
b zy-plane radiation patterns

ELECTRONICS LETTERS 17th March 2005 Vol. 41 No. 6

Experimental results: The input characteristic of the antenna is

calculated with Zelands IE3D and measured with a HP8720ET
vector network analyser. The calculated and measured return losses
are given in Fig. 3. It is observed that the impedance bandwidth for
return loss of less than 10 dB is from 2.66 to 10.76 GHz, in which a
frequency notched band from 4.95 to 5.85 GHz has been achieved.
Radiation patterns of the antenna in zy-plane and zx-plane at three
different frequencies over the operation frequency band are measured in
a chamber and given in Fig. 4. It is observed that relative constant
radiation patterns and omnidirectional performance can be achieved
over the entire frequency range. Thus the operation bandwidth of the
antenna can be determined to be the same as its impedance bandwidth.
The antenna gain is also calculated, measured and displayed in Fig. 5.
It is seen that the two results are in good agreement with each other, and
it is also observed that a frequency notched characteristic is achieved.

given. A fractal tuning stub is employed to achieve frequency notched

function. From the calculated and measured results, it is observed that
not only good ultra-wideband performance with frequency notch
characteristics but also relatively stable and omnidirectional performance is achieved. Therefore, the proposed antenna should be useful
for broadband wireless communication systems such as UWB.
# IEE 2005
Electronics Letters online no: 20058420
doi: 10.1049/el:20058420

27 December 2004

W.J. Lui, C.H. Cheng, Y. Cheng and H. Zhu (Laboratory of Wireless

Communication & EMC, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing 210003, Peoples Republic of China)
E-mail: d0326@njupt.edu.cn
References
1
2

3
4
5
6

Fig. 5 Calculated and measured gain of proposed antenna

Schantz, H.G., Wolence, G., and Myszka, E.M.: Frequency notched

UWB antennas. Proc. IEEE Conf. on Ultra Wideband Systems and
Technologies, Reston, VA, USA, 2003, pp. 214218
Kerkhoff, A., and Ling, H.: Design of a planar monopole antenna for use
with ultra-wideband (UWB) having a band-notched characteristic. IEEE
Antennas Propagation Society Int. Symp. Dig., Columbus, OH, USA,
2003, Vol. 1, pp. 830833
Kim, Y., and Kwon, D.-H.: CPW-fed planar ultra wideband antenna
having a frequency band notch function, Electron. Lett., 2004, 40, (7),
pp. 403405
Sze, J.-Y., and Wong, K.-L.: Bandwidth enhancement of a
microstrip-line-fed printed wide-slot antenna, IEEE Trans. Antennas
Propag., 2001, 49, (7), pp. 10201024
Chen, H.-D.: Broadband CPW-fed square slot antenna with a widened
tuning stub, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., 2003, 51, (8), pp. 1982
1986
Behdad, N., and Sarabandi, K.: A multiresonant single-element wide slot
antenna, IEEE Antennas Wirel. Propag. Lett., 2004, 3, (1), pp. 58

Conclusion: A novel frequency notched ultra-wideband microstrip

slot antenna is proposed. Calculated and experimental results are

ELECTRONICS LETTERS 17th March 2005

Vol. 41 No. 6