title: Low dielectric polyimide aerogels as substrates for lightweight patch antennas.
abstract: The dielectric properties and loss tangents of low-density polyimide aerogels have been characterized at various frequencies. Relative dielectric constants as low as 1.16 were measured for polyimide aerogels made from 2,2'-dimethylbenzidine (DMBZ) and biphenyl 3,3',4,4'-tetracarbozylic dianhydride (BPDA) cross-linked with 1,3,5-triaminophenoxybenzene (TAB). This formulation was used as the substrate to fabricate and test prototype microstrip patch antennas and benchmark against state of practice commercial antenna substrates. The polyimide aerogel antennas exhibited broader bandwidth, higher gain, and lower mass than the antennas made using commercial substrates. These are very encouraging results, which support the potential advantages of the polyimide aerogel-based antennas for aerospace applications.
authors.affiliation: NASA Glenn Research Center, 21000 Brookpark Road, Cleveland, Ohio 44135, USA. maryann.meador@nasa.gov
authors.forename: Mary Ann B
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Meador
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sandberg
authors.forename: Baochau N
authors.initials: BN
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: Frederick W
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Van Keuls
authors.forename: Carl H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Mueller
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Solís
authors.forename: Félix A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Miranda
mesh_terms: D017097:Electric Impedance; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005782:Gels / Q000737:chemistry*; D008422:Materials Testing; D012117:Resins, Synthetic / Q000737:chemistry*; D013685:Telecommunications / Q000295:instrumentation*; D014159:Transducers
chemical_list: D005782:Gels; D012117:Resins, Synthetic; C029945:polyimide resin