A Subtlety of Sizing the Inset Gap Width of a Microstrip Antenna When Built on an Ultra-Thin Substrate in the S-Band

In this paper, Pyralux-a modern, ultra-thin, and acrylic-based laminate-was tested as a substrate of a microstrip antenna to examine the antenna characteristics when it is built on such a thin, flexible, and robust dielectric material, with the idea of eventually serving in wearable antennas in the context of smart-clothing applications. We particularly discuss the sensitivity of the design and fabrication of an inset-fed rectangular microstrip antenna (IRMA) in terms of its inset gap width when it is designed in the S-frequency band. The simulated and measured results showed a very small feasible range for the inset gap dimension with respect to the feed line width. Ultimately, an IRMA was successfully designed, fabricated, and tested with both SMA and U.FL connectors. The impedance bandwidth, in either case, was about 2%, the average value of directivity was 5.8 dB, and the realized efficiency was 2.67%, while the 3-dB beamwidths in the E-plane and the H-plane were 90° or wider.