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fractalIsland

Minkowski's loop fractal antenna

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Description

The default fractalIsland object creates a Minkowski's loop fractal antenna resonating around 6.58 GHz. These fractal antennas are used in mobile phone and Wi-Fi® communications.

A fractal antenna uses a self-similar design to maximize the length or increase the perimeter of a material that transmits or receives electromagnetic radiation within a given volume or area. The main advantage of fractal antennas is that they are compact, which is an important requirement for small and complex circuits. Fractal antennas also have more input impedance or resistance due to increased length or perimeter.

All fractal antennas are printed structures that are etched on a dielectric substrate.

Creation

Syntax

ant = fractalIsland
ant = fractalIsland(Name=Value)

Description

ant = fractalIsland creates a Minkowski's loop fractal antenna. The default fractal is centered at the origin, and the number of iterations is set to 2. The default dimensions are chosen for an operating frequency of around 6.58 GHz.

example

ant = fractalIsland(Name=Value) sets properties using one or more name–value arguments. Name is the property name and Value is the corresponding value. You can specify several name-value arguments in any order as Name1=Value1,...,NameN=ValueN. Properties that you do not specify, retain their default values.

For example, ant = fractalIsland(NumIterations=4) creates a Minkowski's loop with four iterations.

example

Properties

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Number of iterations performed on the fractal antenna, specified as a scalar integer.

Example: 4

Data Types: double

Length of the fractal island along the x-axis, specified as a positive scalar integer in meters.

Example: 0.5000

Data Types: double

Width of the fractal island along the y-axis, specified as a positive scalar integer in meters.

Example: 0.0050

Data Types: double

Width of the feeding strip line, specified as a positive scalar integer in meters.

Example: 3.0000e-04

Data Types: double

Length of the slot along the x-axis, specified as a positive scalar integer in meters.

Example: 0.0050

Data Types: double

Width of the slot along the y-axis, specified as a positive scalar integer in meters.

Example: 0.0050

Data Types: double

Height of the fractal above the ground plane along the z-axis, specified as a positive scalar integer in meters.

Example: 0.0034

Data Types: double

Type of dielectric material used as a substrate, specified as a dielectric object. You can choose any dielectric material from the DielectricCatalog or specify a dielectric material of your choice. The substrate dimensions must be equal to the ground plane dimensions. For more information on dielectric substrate meshing, see Meshing.

Example: dielectric("FR4")

Length of the ground plane, specified as a positive scalar integer in meters.

Example: 0.0550

Data Types: double

Width of the ground plane, specified as a positive scalar integer in meters.

Example: 0.0550

Data Types: double

Signed distance of the fractal center from the origin, specified as a two-element real-valued vector with each element unit in meters.

Example: [0 0.080]

Data Types: double

Type of the metal used as a conductor, specified as a metal object. You can choose any metal from the MetalCatalog or specify a metal of your choice. For more information on metal conductor meshing, see Meshing.

Example: metal("Copper")

Lumped elements added to the antenna feed, specified as a lumpedElement object. You can add a load anywhere on the surface of the antenna. By default, the load is at the feed.

Example: Load=lumpedElement(Impedance=75)

Example: antenna.Load = lumpedElement(Impedance=75)

Tilt angle of the antenna in degrees, specified as a scalar or vector. For more information, see Rotate Antennas and Arrays.

Example: 90

Example: Tilt=[90 90],TiltAxis=[0 1 0;0 1 1] tilts the antenna at 90 degrees about the two axes defined by the vectors.

Data Types: double

Tilt axis of the antenna, specified as one of these values:

  • Three-element vector of Cartesian coordinates in meters. In this case, each coordinate in the vector starts at the origin and lies along the specified points on the x-, y-, and z-axes.

  • Two points in space, specified as a 2-by-3 matrix corresponding to two three-element vectors of Cartesian coordinates. In this case, the antenna rotates around the line joining the two points.

  • "x", "y", or "z" to describe a rotation about the x-, y-, or z-axis, respectively.

For more information, see Rotate Antennas and Arrays.

Example: [0 1 0]

Example: [0 0 0;0 1 0]

Example: "Z"

Data Types: double | string

Object Functions

axialRatioCalculate and plot axial ratio of antenna or array
bandwidthCalculate and plot absolute bandwidth of antenna or array
beamwidthBeamwidth of antenna
chargeCharge distribution on antenna or array surface
currentCurrent distribution on antenna or array surface
designDesign prototype antenna or arrays for resonance around specified frequency or create AI-based antenna from antenna catalog objects
efficiencyCalculate and plot radiation efficiency of antenna or array
EHfieldsElectric and magnetic fields of antennas or embedded electric and magnetic fields of antenna element in arrays
feedCurrentCalculate current at feed for antenna or array
impedanceCalculate and plot input impedance of antenna or scan impedance of array
infoDisplay information about antenna, array, or platform
memoryEstimateEstimate memory required to solve antenna or array mesh
meshMesh properties of metal, dielectric antenna, or array structure
meshconfigChange meshing mode of antenna, array, custom antenna, custom array, or custom geometry
msiwriteWrite antenna or array analysis data to MSI planet file
optimizeOptimize antenna or array using SADEA optimizer
patternPlot radiation pattern and phase of antenna or array or embedded pattern of antenna element in array
patternAzimuthAzimuth plane radiation pattern of antenna or array
patternElevationElevation plane radiation pattern of antenna or array
peakRadiationCalculate and mark maximum radiation points of antenna or array on radiation pattern
rcsCalculate and plot monostatic and bistatic radar cross section (RCS) of platform, antenna, or array
resonantFrequencyCalculate and plot resonant frequency of antenna
returnLossCalculate and plot return loss of antenna or scan return loss of array
showDisplay antenna, array structures, shapes, or platform
sparametersCalculate S-parameters for antenna or array
stlwriteWrite mesh information to STL file
vswrCalculate and plot voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) of antenna or array element

Examples

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Open Live Script

Create and view a Minkowski's loop fractal antenna with default property values. 

ant = fractalIsland
ant = 
  fractalIsland with properties:

          NumIterations: 2
                 Length: 0.0295
                  Width: 0.0295
         StripLineWidth: 6.0000e-04
             SlotLength: 0.0040
              SlotWidth: 0.0040
                 Height: 0.0016
              Substrate: [1x1 dielectric]
      GroundPlaneLength: 0.0500
       GroundPlaneWidth: 0.0300
    FractalCenterOffset: [0 0]
              Conductor: [1x1 metal]
                   Tilt: 0
               TiltAxis: [1 0 0]
                   Load: [1x1 lumpedElement]


show(ant)

Figure contains an axes object. The axes object with title fractalIsland antenna element, xlabel x (mm), ylabel y (mm) contains 4 objects of type patch, surface. These objects represent PEC, feed.

Open Live Script

Create and view a Minkowski's loop fractal antenna on FR4 substrate. 

ant = fractalIsland(Substrate=dielectric("FR4"));
show(ant)

Figure contains an axes object. The axes object with title fractalIsland antenna element, xlabel x (mm), ylabel y (mm) contains 5 objects of type patch, surface. These objects represent PEC, feed, FR4.

Plot the radiation pattern of the antenna at a frequency of 6 GHz.

pattern(ant,6e9)

Figure contains 2 axes objects and other objects of type uicontrol. Axes object 1 contains 5 objects of type patch, surface. This object represents FR4. Hidden axes object 2 contains 17 objects of type surface, line, text, patch. This object represents FR4.

Version History

Introduced in R2019a

See Also

Objects

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