Publication

Abstract : In this paper, an optically transparent circular wideband monopole antenna with dual substrates is proposed. The transparency of the antenna is achieved by using soda lime glass as substrate and a thin film of Fluorine Doped Tin Oxide (FTO) as the conductive layer. The dual substrates are used to improve the bandwidth of the antenna and it is fed through the proximity coupling technique to remove the spurious radiation. The electrical properties of the FTO material are compared with copper to find the suitability for antenna realization. The fabricated prototype operates at a frequency range of 4–8 GHz with impedance bandwidth of 4 GHz. The optical transmittance of the antenna is greater than 63% in the visible region. It has an omnidirectional radiation pattern with a measured peak realized gain of 1.2 dBi. The proposed antenna is used for wideband applications.