Aperture-coupled thin-film superconducting meander antennas

A thin-film superconducting meander patch antenna coupled by an H-shaped aperture is proposed. It is analyzed using a full wave electromagnetic simulator and the theory of cavity model for microstrip patch antennas. The meander patch was fabricated from a single-sided film of YBCO (YBa/sub 2/CU/sub 3/O/sub 7/) on MgO with a typical transition temperature of 90 K. Simulated results are presented for return loss, radiation pattern, and efficiency and these are shown in good agreement with the results obtained from network analyzer measurements. An array of a number of elements is also proposed for wide-band operation.