TechBlog

Antennas serve as transducers between electromagnetic waves traveling in free space and guided electromagnetic signals in circuits. As such, they play a critical role in the performance of wireless communication systems. With the proliferation of mobile wireless services that deliver voice and/or data in smaller and smaller devices, the task to design an antenna for a portable unit that meets not only operational requirements but also aesthetic and packaging restrictions is becoming more and more challenging. As result, engineers rely on a combination of theory, simulation, and experimental investigation to arrive at a design that meets all the demands of a particular application.

Basic Antenna Parameters

The basic parameters of antenna are impedence, mismatch and ohmic efficiency, radiation pattern and polarization, directivity, gain and equivalent isotropically radiated power, and effective height and aperture. In addition, celebrated Friis equation is and equations for the signal to noise ratio (SNR) of an antenna and source-field relationships are also important.For a more detailed treatment of the material pointed out here, the reader is referred to “A HANDBOOK OF ANTENNA IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION” OF CRC Press by Lal Chand Godara.

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CRYSTEX Composites

Mykroy/Mycalex (MM) Glass bonded mica material is a trade name of CRYSTEX Composites LLC. Since 1921, Mykroy/Mycalex composite remains the most versatile and efficient electrical and thermal-insulating materials refined to meet the exacting demands of technical markets. MM material is the only mineral, fully inorganic material, to bridge the performance gap between organic plastics and mineral ceramics. Mykroy/Mycalex material is a union, under simultaneous pressure and heat, of finely powdered electrical quality glass and precisely defined and classified mica. The resulting stone-like, dense ceramic, inherits all the insulating advantages of both constituents. It can be easily machined to close tolerances or transfer molded into intricate shapes with or without metal inserts. MM material is impervious to moisture, and does not outgas under high temperature or in vacuum environments. It manifests exceptional dimensional stability even at high temperature. It does not burn or carbonize and has an unlimited shelf life.

Unique in the United States, CRYSTEX Composites LLC has produced its own Synthetic Mica since 1955.

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As a step toward advanced nanotechnology, general methods for producing complex nanoscale structures in three dimensions are useful stepping stones from current nanotech to atomically precise functional nanosystems. Although the nanomaterials and nanostructures produced are far from atomically precise, a recently developed method of using a micropipette and rapidly drying ink to draw long fibers and complex 3D structures is an important advance.

Excerpts from a University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign news release “New process makes nanofibers in complex shapes and unlimited lengths“

The continuous fabrication of complex, three-dimensional nanoscale structures and the ability to grow individual nanowires of unlimited length are now possible with a process developed by researchers at the University of Illinois.

Continue reading ‘A nanotechnology based upon writing in 3D produces long fibers and complex structures’ »