Michael Pahl

Resume

Research

My research is developing a method for finding the exact impedance for a slot antenna or dipole antenna with a finite dielectric substrate. Babinet’s principle of complementary structures in optics was extended to electromagnetics by Booker, but Booker’s work only serves as an approximation. Factors such as wave behavior at multiple boundaries and how they interact with a slot have to be combined to develop a solution. The current method to solve this problem is to sum all of the waves with their impedances as they pass through the substrate.  The results of this research will be very useful in antenna design because the interchangeability of slot and dipoles is crucial, so exact impedance equations will greatly improve accuracy and precision of design.