Design and fabrication of low-cost reconfigurable microstrip antenna using photodiode as optical switching

Design, fabrication, and characterization prototype of reconfigurable dipole microstrip antenna using photodiode as optical switching have been conducted in the Laboratory for Optical and Microwave Physics Department Faculty of ITS. This paper presents a new reconfigurable antenna design using photodiode as optical switching. In order to be optical switching, photodiode must be illuminated by optical source. The optical source used is Infrared with power 8 mW. Antenna is fabricated in FR-4 substrate which has 1.6 mm thick and 4.8 relative permittivity value. The dimension of the substrate is 131 mm × 21.5 mm × 1.6 mm. The structure of antenna is Coplanar Stripline (CPS) dipole. Measurement is conducted in two state. First state is photodiodes unilluminated Infrared and the second state is illuminated. The measurement result indicate that if condition is not illuminated by Infrared (OFF-state) antenna has resonance frequency of 2010 MHz and 2120 MHz. At frequency 2010 MHz, S11 value -35.7 dB and bandwidth 57 MHz, meanwhile at frequency 2120 MHz, S11 value -17.3 dB and bandwidth 42 MHz. Then if photodiode was illuminated by infrared (ON-state), antenna work at frequency 2007 MHz with S11 value -41.8 dB and bandwidth 61 MHz and 2113 MHz with S11 value -19.4 and bandwidth 47 MHz. There was frequency shifting from 2010 MHz to 2007 MHz and 2120 MHz to 2113 MHz of 5 MHz. At ON state, S11 value also was shifting. There was 6.1 dB and 2.1 dB. Bandwidth at ON-state is wider than OFF state. Microstrip antenna with a reconfigurable optical switching photodiode has several advantages. The advantages are more easily fabricated and the cost is relatively cheaper than the other techniques of optical switching.