Abstract
We report the performance of a four-element, 11.67 GHz, $high-{T}_c$ superconducting (HTS) microstrip antenna array with corporate feed network. The HTS antenna array used in this work had a circular polarization for direct broadcasting satellite (DBS) system. Our array antennas were designed and built on a 0.5 mm thick MgO substrate. To compare the superconducting antennas with normal conducting counterpart, One antenna pattern was fabricated from gold thin film, and a second pattern was fabricated from ${YBa}_2{Cu}_3{O}_7-x(YBCO)$ superconducting thin film. To improve the axial ratio of circularly polarized arrays, sequential rotation technique were used. Efficiency, radiation pattern, return loss and bandwidth were measured for both antennas at cryogenic temperature and room temperature. The array produced good circular polarization, and the gain of the array at 77 K, relative to a copper array at room temperature was approximately 1.54 dB. The measured return loss of our HTS antenna array was 35.79 dB at the resonant frequency of 11.67 GHz and The total effective bandwidth was about 3.4 %. The results showed that high-temperature superconductors, when used in microstrip arrays, improved the efficiency of the HTS antenna array for circularly polarization.
