Small microfluidically tunable top loaded monopole

Abstract

A recently introduced microfluidically reconfigurable frequency tunable monopole antenna is miniaturized by resorting to a selectively metallized plate for implementing capacitive loading. The selectively metallized plate forms the radiating part of the antenna and is enclosed within a microfluidic channel. The monopole is capacitively coupled to the feed line through a thin insulating layer. The frequency tunability of the antenna is achieved by microfluidically moving the metallized plate to change antenna height. The antenna is measured to operate from 1.8GHz to 3.2GHz with a tuning ratio of 1.7:1 with >2.2dB peak gain.