Do you want to know the basics of bow tie antenna? A bow tie or butterfly antenna is a specific kind of Ultra High Frequency (UHF) fan antenna array. Despite their apparent similarities, bow tie antennas are not LP aerials.
Through this post, we’ll set forth what a bow tie antenna is and discuss everything related to a bow tie antenna, including the advantages/disadvantages of it.
Basics Of Bow Tie Antenna
For advanced wireless communication processes, various designs for wideband antennas have emerged from 1886 till today. Among them, the bow tie antenna is the greatest for wideband applications.
The digital communications revolution has greatly improved the picture quality of television. The notion of a butterfly or bow-tie antenna is not particularly complex. The butterfly antenna, a common kind of broadband antenna, may be thought of as a 2-dimensional version of a cylindrical dipole.
These antennas have the form of a butterfly and are created by folding conductive wire into a slot antenna or, more recently, a microstrip. When compared to a dipole, the gain is marginally superior. The flare’s angle and size affect the shortest wavelength it produces. The bandwidth impedance varies between 70 to 500 ohms based on the angle and frequency, but the true component of it is somewhere in that range.
Why Is Bow Tie Antenna Important?
To keep up with today’s fast-paced world, we rely heavily on today’s sophisticated wireless communication system, while antennas play a crucial role in this progress. Let’s see why bowtie antenna has drawn the extensive attention of researchers-
- Suitable architecture for high-performance THz transmission.
- Due to its flat profile, simple construction, and higher input impedance, perfect for different electromagnetic applications like multi-standard communication systems, high-level resolving radars, and signal sensors.
- A viable option for a wide variety of applications, including multi-band WiMAX/WLAN/LTE, 5G, optical polarimetry, ground-pointing, and limited-range radars.
- It is a promising candidate for the conception of high-gain wide bandwidth antenna systems when combined with artificial electromagnetic conductors.
- Also, the bow-tie antenna has recently been implemented in beam-steering.
Advantages Of Bow Tie Antenna
Bow tie antenna offers several benefits, some of which include being lightweight, having an easier design and manufacturing process, superior radiation consistency, planar construction, and compactness. These resolve the issue of antenna usability in conventional ground-pointing radar (GPR), which is poor due to the antenna’s enlarged size, high cost, and inadequate bandwidth.
- Enhanced Performance
Bow-tie antennas have a performance superior to that of wire-dipole antennas in terms of bandwidth. Study shows that the fractional bandwidths of traditional slotted bow-tie antennas range from 17 to 40 percent.
- Enhancement Techniques
The bow-tie antenna’s versatility stems from its broad impedance and flat, planar design. Bow-tie antennas outperform wire-dipole antennas in terms of bandwidth. Generally, the frequency range of a typical slot bow-tie antenna ranges from 17 to 40 percent (Elder, 2004).
- Compatibility
Moreover, the antennas often pick up signals at a 60-degree angle, making them ideal for picking up signals from a wide variety of sources. This is why Televisions capable of receiving over-the-air broadcasting often had bowtie-shaped antennae. They’d be able to pick up more UHF signals compared to a traditional thin-wired dipole antenna.
- High Gain
This metamaterial-loaded antenna may boost the effectiveness of the ground-pointing radar (GPR) system by increasing its efficiency and directivity. BTA is the perfect automated antenna due to its limitless length and exclusively slant-based length definition. Combined with electric or magnetic conductors, it makes for a promising component in designing wide bandwidth, high-gain wireless communication systems.
- Smart Design & Lightweight
Compared to a fan dipole antenna, which uses cables to join its horizontal parts, the design of the bow-tie antenna is more lightweight. The metal plate that fastens the bow tie adds strength to the design and makes it heavier. The materials needed to build this antenna are few, and the antenna itself is simple in design. As a result, rabbit ear antennas became standard equipment on vintage TVs. The bow-tie antenna’s mesh reflector outperforms those of traditional antenna designs like yagi antennas.
Types Of Bow Tie Antenna
There are several different kinds of bow tie antennas, including:
- Wideband Bow tie Printed Antenna
- Slot Antenna With A Bow tie Shape
- Triangular Bow tie Antenna
- Microstrip-Fed Bow tie Antenna
- Bow tie Slotted Antenna
- CPW-fed bow tie-slot antenna
R(load), L(arm), L(load), alpha, and Z are a few of the major variables that differentiate the Bowtie antenna. They can use different designs and approaches to maximize the antenna’s performance.
Disadvantages Of Bow Tie Antenna
A bow-tie antenna is vertically polarized. The butterfly’s cone and wings act as antennas, picking up signals in the direction they are pointed.Only transmissions inside that zone may be received by the antenna, albeit this becomes irrelevant when aiming the antenna toward a distant broadcast tower. A dish or reflector can be placed behind the antenna. However, this isn’t necessarily essential.
Bowtie antennas, in particular, are not very effective in transmitting at low frequencies. In this aspect, a log-periodic antenna does a good job. When detecting radio frequency signals, a complete biconical antenna is much more effective than a bow-tie antenna.
How to Design & Simulate Bow-Tie Antenna
Tips On Bandwidth Improvement With Bow Tie Antenna
Here we break down some tips that will help to improvise the bow-tie antenna performance-
Tip 1
For any low-cost, compact, and conformal designs of several wireless applications, you should prefer a Slotted bow-tie antenna compared to a dipole printed and linear wire antenna.
Tip 2
Since the bow-tie antenna’s bandwidth is proportional to its flare angle, it is suggested to design an antenna comprising three bow-tie antennas along with three particular flare angles operating three different combinations of frequency bands.
Tip 3
If a specified gain is to be sustained in a given direction over the entire frequency range of interest, the geometry of the bow-tie antenna should be selected carefully. It’s sometimes challenging due to the fact that different kinds of bow ties commonly employ various criteria, measurements, and materials setup.
Tip 4
To get more bandwidth improvement, the conductors of bow-tie antennas should be designed in a way where they have created a biconical shape by flaring outwards. As a result, the constant wire diameter may be substituted by the gradually changing diameter of a conical surface at a constant angle.
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Conclusion
In order to manipulate optical fields, optical nanoantennas can transform exterior electromagnetic energy into contained energy and, conversely, play a crucial role. Researchers in relevant fields have paid a lot of interest to the bow-tie antenna because of the impressive area localization and augmentation it achieves under electrical or optical stimulation, opening up a wide range of potential uses for this antenna.