UWB Antenna Design for Detection of Buried Objects using Microwave Imaging

In this paper, a low-profile ultra-wideband (UWB) antenna is presented and analyzed for its effectiveness in detecting concealed objects. To achieve efficient performance, a unique radiator based printed monopole antenna (PMA) is developed by combining a polygon with a semicircle, which creates multi-resonance characteristics across a broad frequency range. In addition, adjustments have been made to the ground plane with truncated triangular and rectangular slots to achieve impedance matching over a wide frequency range. The proposed UWB antenna provides a wide operating bandwidth of 10 GHz (3.1 GHz-13.1 GHz), high efficiency of around 88%, and a gain variation of 4–6 dBi. Furthermore, microwave imaging is utilized in tandem with the proposed UWB antenna to exhibit an effective object identification approach. The performance analysis of this approach indicates that the antenna can successfully detect hidden objects behind a wall or embedded deep in the ground.