Electrically small antennas are of interest in a variety of applications, particularly where the antennas must be unobtrusive.
A Study of the Performance Properties of Small Antennas
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Electrically small antennas are of interest in a variety of applications, particularly where the antennas must be unobtrusive. The performance properties considered in the design of small antennas typically include impedance, radiation efficiency, pattern shape, polarization and particularly operating bandwidth and quality factor (Q). In this paper, we compare the performance properties of several fundamental small antenna designs as a function of overall height and size (ka). Antennas studied here include the multi-arm folded helix, the matched disk loaded dipole, the matched spherical-cap dipole and the multi-arm spherical resonator. The antennas are compared to determine which configuration offers the best performance in terms of pattern shape, radiation efficiency, and 1/2-power and 2:1 VSWR bandwidths.