Carbon Nanotube Composites for Wideband Millimeter-Wave Antenna Applications

In this paper, we explore using carbon nanotube (CNT) composite material for wideband millimeter-wave antenna applications. An accurate electromagnetic model of the composite antenna is developed using Microwave Studio for numerical analysis. Good agreement between computed and measured results is shown for both copper and CNT antennas, and their performance is compared. The CNT antenna shows stable gain and radiation patterns over the 24 to 34 GHz frequency range. The dispersion characteristics of the CNT antenna show its suitability for wideband communication systems. Using a quarter-wave matched T-junction as feed network, a two-element CNT antenna array is realized and the performance is compared with a copper antenna. The housing effect on the performance of the CNT antenna is shown to be much lower than for the copper antenna.