Thin film resistive loading for antennas

Claim 3

A method of fabricating a resistively terminated antenna as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of providing a resistor-conductor laminate comprises the steps of: providing a substantially planar resistive layer of substantially uniform thickness; and providing a substantially planar conductive layer of substantially uniform thickness to produce a substantially uniform sheet of resistor-conductor laminate.

Claim 4

A method of fabricating a resistively terminated antenna as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of selectively removing portions of the conductive layer and portions of the resistive layer to produce an antenna design comprise the step of etching.

Claim 5

A method of fabricating a resistively terminated antenna as claimed in claim 3, wherein the step of selectively removing portions of the conductive layer and portions of the resistive layer to produce an antenna design further comprises the step of shaping the antenna design into a pattern of conductive spiral arms to form the radiative portion of the antenna.

Claim 6

A method of fabricating a resistively terminated antenna as claimed in claim 4, wherein the step of shaping the antenna design into a pattern of conductive spiral arms comprises the steps of: etching a series of resistive areas to interrupt conductive areas along the lengths of the spiral arms; and etching successive resistive area lengths along the spiral arms to increase from the center of the spiral, terminating in resistive spiral ends.

Claim 7

A method of fabricating a resistively terminated antenna as claimed in claim 4, wherein the step of shaping the antenna design into a pattern of conductive spiral arms comprises the steps of: etching resistive areas between conductive spiral arms; and etching increasing successive resistive area widths along the spiral arms from the center of the spiral, where the conductive spiral arms merge at the outermost extent of the conductive spiral arms from the center of the spiral.

Claim 8

A method of fabricating a resistively terminated antenna as claimed in claim 4, wherein the step of shaping the antenna design into a pattern of conductive spiral arms comprises the steps of: etching a series of resistive areas to interrupt conductive areas along the lengths of the spiral arms; and etching successive resistive area lengths along the spiral arms to increase from the center of the spiral, terminating in resistive spiral ends; etching resistive areas between conductive spiral arms; and etching increasing successive resistive area widths along the spiral arms from the center of the spiral, to form a self-complementary antenna configuration.

Claim 9

A method of fabricating a resistively terminated antenna as claimed in claim 4, wherein the step of shaping the antenna design into a pattern of conductive spiral arms comprises the step of etching strips of resistive material on both edges of each spiral arm, but not touching adjacent spiral arms, to form a continuous lossy transmission line.

Claim 10

A method of fabricating a resistively terminated antenna as claimed in claim 3, wherein the step of providing a dielectric substrate comprises the steps of: providing a sheet of uniform thickness of dielectric substrate; and mounting a film resistor to one surface of the sheet of uniform thickness of dielectric substrate.

Claim 11

A method of fabricating a resistively terminated antenna as claimed in claim 9, wherein, the step of mounting the resistor-conductor laminate on the dielectric substrate comprises: mounting a spacer to the film resistor; mounting a ground plane to the surface of the spacer opposite the film resistor; and mounting the resistor-conductor laminate to the surface of the dielectric substrate opposite the film resistor.

Claim 12

A method of fabricating a resistively terminated antenna as claimed in claim 9, wherein, the step of mounting the resistor-conductor laminate on the dielectric substrate comprises: mounting a spacer to the resistor-conductor laminate; mounting a ground plane to the surface of the spacer opposite the resistor-conductor laminate; and mounting the resistor-conductor laminate to the surface of the dielectric substrate opposite the film resistor.

Claim 13

A method of fabricating a resistively terminated antenna as claimed in claim 9, wherein the step of mounting a film resistor to one surface of the sheet of uniform thickness of dielectric substrate comprises the step of mounting a film resistor with a central aperture.

Claim 14

A method of fabricating a resistively terminated antenna as claimed in claim 9, wherein the step of mounting the resistor-conductor laminate on the dielectric substrate comprises the step of mounting the resistor-conductor surface on the dielectric substrate surface opposite the film resistor.

Claim 15

A method of fabricating a resistively terminated antenna as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of selectively removing portions of the conductive layer and portions of the resistive layer to produce an antenna design further comprise the step of shaping the antenna design into a sinuous configuration.

Claim 18

A method of fabricating a cavity-backed antenna as claimed in claim 15, wherein the step of laminating a resistive layer to a conductive layer comprises the steps of: providing a substantially planar resistive layer of substantially uniform thickness; and providing a substantially planar conductive layer of substantially uniform thickness.

Claim 19

A method of fabricating a cavity-backed antenna as claimed in claim 15, wherein the step of selectively removing portions of the conductive layer and portions of the resistive layer to produce an antenna design comprises the step of etching.

Claim 20

A method of fabricating a cavity-backed antenna as claimed in claim 17, wherein the step of selectively removing portions of the conductive layer and portions of the resistive layer to produce an antenna design further comprises the step of shaping the antenna design into a sinuous configuration.

Claim 21

A method of fabricating a cavity-backed antenna as claimed in claim 17, wherein the step of selectively removing portions of the conductive layer and portions of the resistive layer to produce an antenna design further comprises the step of shaping the antenna design into a pattern of conductive spiral arms.

Claim 22

A method of fabricating a cavity-backed antenna as claimed in claim 19, wherein the step of shaping the antenna design into a pattern of conductive spiral arms comprises the steps of: etching a series of resistive areas to interrupt conductive areas along the lengths of the spiral arms; and etching successive resistive area lengths along the spiral arms to increase from the center of the spiral, terminating in resistive spiral ends.

Claim 23

A method of fabricating a cavity-backed antenna as claimed in claim 19, wherein the step of shaping the antenna design into a pattern of conductive spiral arms comprises the steps of: etching resistive areas between conductive spiral arms; and etching increasing successive resistive area widths along the spiral arms from the center of the spiral, where the conductive spiral arms merge at the outermost extent of the conductive spiral arms from the center of the spiral.

Claim 24

A method of fabricating a cavity-backed antenna as claimed in claim 19, wherein the step of shaping the antenna design into a pattern of conductive spiral arms comprises the step of etching strips of resistive material on both edges of each spiral arm, but not touching adjacent spiral arms, to form a continuous lossy transmission line.

Claim 25

A method of fabricating a cavity-backed antenna as claimed in claim 17, wherein the step of mounting the resistive layer and the conductive layer on a dielectric substrate comprises the steps of: providing a sheet of uniform thickness of dielectric substrate; and mounting a film resistor to one surface of the sheet of uniform thickness of dielectric substrate.

Claim 26

A method of fabricating a cavity-backed antenna as claimed in claim 23, wherein, the step of mounting the resistive layer and the conductive layer on a dielectric substrate further comprises: mounting a spacer to the film resistor; mounting a ground plane to the surface of the spacer opposite the film resistor; and mounting the resistive layer and the conductive layer to the surface of the dielectric substrate opposite the film resistor.

Claim 27

A method of fabricating a cavity-backed antenna as claimed in claim 23, wherein, the step of mounting the resistive layer and the conductive layer on a dielectric substrate further comprises: mounting a spacer to the conductive layer; mounting a ground plane to the surface of the spacer opposite the conductive layer; and mounting the surface of the dielectric substrate opposite the film resistor to the resistive layer.

Claim 28

A method of fabricating a cavity-backed antenna as claimed in claim 23, wherein the step of mounting a film resistor to one surface of the sheet of uniform thickness of dielectric substrate comprises the step of mounting a film resistor with a central aperture.

Claim 29

A method of fabricating a cavity-backed antenna as claimed in claim 23, wherein the step of mounting the layer and the conductive layer on the dielectric substrate comprises the step of mounting the resistive surface on the dielectric substrate surface opposite the film resistor.

Claim 30

A resistively terminated antenna, comprising: conducting means with first and second parallel opposite surfaces; resistive means with first and second parallel opposite surfaces, where the second surface of the conducting means is immediately adjacent to the first surface of the resistive means; dielectric means with first and second parallel opposite surfaces, where the second surface of the resistive means is immediately adjacent to the first surface of the dielectric means; film resistor means with first and second parallel opposite surfaces, where the second surface of the dielectric means is immediately adjacent to the first surface of the film resistor means; spacer means with first and second parallel surfaces, where the second surface of the film resistor means is immediately adjacent to the first surface of the spacer means; and ground plane means with first and second parallel surfaces, where the second surface of the spacer means is immediately adjacent to the first surface of the ground plane means.

Claim 31

A resistively terminated antenna, comprising: conducting means with first and second parallel opposite surfaces; resistive means with first and second parallel opposite surfaces, where the second surface of the conducting means is immediately adjacent to the first surface of the resistive means; dielectric means with first and second parallel opposite surfaces, where the second surface of the resistive means is immediately adjacent to the first surface of the dielectric means; film resistor means with first and second parallel opposite surfaces, where the second surface of the dielectric means is immediately adjacent to the first surface of the film resistor means; spacer means with first and second parallel surfaces, where the second surface of the film resistor means is immediately adjacent to the first surface of the spacer means; and ground plane means with first and second parallel surfaces, where the second surface of the spacer means is immediately adjacent to the first surface of the ground plane means.

Claim 32

A resistively terminated antenna as claimed in claim 28, wherein the conducting means is shaped into a sinuous configuration antenna design.

Claim 33

A resistively terminated antenna as claimed in claim 28, wherein the conducting means is shaped into a pattern of conductive spiral arms to form the radiative portion of the antenna.

Claim 34

A resistively terminated antenna as claimed in claim 30, wherein the pattern of conductive spiral arms comprises: a series of resistive areas interrupting conductive areas along the lengths of the spiral arms, the resistive areas of increasing length along the spiral arms increasing from the center of the spiral; and the spiral arms terminating in resistive spiral ends.

Claim 35

A resistively terminated antenna as claimed in claim 30, wherein the pattern of conductive spiral arms comprises: a series of resistive areas between conductive spiral arms, the resistive areas of increasing width along the spiral arms increasing from the center of the spiral; and the spiral arms merging at the outermost extent of the spiral.

Claim 36

A resistively terminated antenna as claimed in claim 30, wherein the pattern of conductive spiral arms comprises strips of resistive material on both edges of each spiral arm, not touching adjacent spiral arms, to form a continuous lossy transmission line.

Claim 37

A resistively terminated antenna as claimed in claim 28, wherein the film resistor means has a central aperture.

Claim 38

A resistively terminated antenna, comprising: conducting means with first and second parallel opposite surfaces; resistive means with first and second parallel opposite surfaces, where the second surface of the conducting means is immediately adjacent to the first surface of the resistive means; dielectric means with first and second parallel opposite surfaces, where the second surface of the resistive means is immediately adjacent to the first surface of the dielectric means; film resistor means with first and second parallel opposite surfaces, where the second surface of the dielectric means is immediately adjacent to the first surface of the film resistor means; spacer means with first and second parallel surfaces, where the first surface of the conducting means is immediately adjacent to the second surface of the spacer means; and ground plane means with first and second parallel surfaces, where the second surface of the ground plane means is immediately adjacent to the first surface of the spacer means.

Claim 39

A resistively terminated antenna, comprising: conducting means with first and second parallel opposite surfaces; resistive means with first and second parallel opposite surfaces, where the second surface of the conducting means is immediately adjacent to the first surface of the resistive means; dielectric means with first and second parallel opposite surfaces, where the second surface of the resistive means is immediately adjacent to the first surface of the dielectric means; film resistor means with first and second parallel opposite surfaces, where the second surface of the dielectric means is immediately adjacent to the first surface of the film resistor means; spacer means with first and second parallel surfaces, where the first surface of the conducting means is immediately adjacent to the second surface of the spacer means; and ground plane means with first and second parallel surfaces, where the second surface of the ground plane means is immediately adjacent to the first surface of the spacer means.

Claim 40

A resistively terminated antenna as claimed in claim 35, wherein the conducting means is shaped into a sinuous configuration antenna design.

Claim 41

A resistively terminated antenna as claimed in claim 35, wherein the conductive means is shaped into a pattern of conductive spiral arms to form the radiative portion of the antenna.

Claim 42

A resistively terminated antenna as claimed in claim 37, wherein the pattern of conductive spiral arms comprises: a series of resistive areas interrupting conductive areas along the lengths of the spiral arms, the resistive areas of increasing length along the spiral arms increasing from the center of the spiral; and the spiral arms terminating in resistive spiral ends.

Claim 43

A resistively terminated antenna as claimed in claim 35, wherein the film resistor means has a central aperture.

Claim 44

A resistively terminated antenna as claimed in claim 39, wherein the pattern of conductive spiral arms comprises: a series of resistive areas between conductive spiral arms, the resistive areas of increasing width along the spiral arms increasing from the center of the spiral; and the spiral arms merging at the outermost extent of the spiral.

Claim 45

A resistively terminated antenna as claimed in claim 39, wherein the pattern of conductive spiral arms comprises strips of resistive material on both edges of each spiral arm, not touching adjacent spiral arms, to form a continuos lossy transmission line.