Some potential antenna applications of high-temperature superconductors

A review of possible applications of high-temperature superconductors (HTS) to antennas and antenna feed networks is presented. The frequency range of consideration is 1 MHz to 100 GHz. Three antenna application areas seem appropriate for HTS material. (1)Electrically small antennas and their matching networks: An increase in efficiency is possible for electrically short antennas, but at the expense of bandwidth. Substantial radiated power levels (on the order of kilowatts) can be handled by the best HTS material. Substantial improvement may be realized by making only the matching network of HTS material. (2)Feed and matching networks for compact arrays with enhanced directive gain (superdirective arrays): HTS material should permit such arrays to be fabricated that have high efficiency. (3)Feed networks for millimeter-wave arrays: Low-loss feed networks using HTS microstrip transmission lines give many decibels improvement in gain.