High-gain series fed printed dipole arrays made of high-Tc superconductors

High-gain arrays are designed from closely spaced printed dipoles, alternately crossed by an integrated series feed. Both the array elements and the feeding and matching network are made of thick film YBa2Cu30(7-x) material for increased efficiency. The optimization of directive gain in terms of spacing and dipole length, under constraints in array size, is performed by combining space domain method of moments (MM) with transmission line theory. A practical design is experimentally demonstrated, and its performance is compared to simulated data. The superconducting array presents gain higher than that of similar cryogenically cooled Cu and Ag arrays tested. Supergain potential is discussed. (Author)