1. UKM Learning and Research Repository
2. PHD Thesis / Tesis PHD
3. Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment / Fakulti Kejuruteraan dan Alam Bina

Title:	Optically transparent antenna integrated with solar photovoltaic energy for self powered wireless communication
Authors:	Omar Raed Zaki Alobaidi (P90327)
Supervisor:	Md. Akhtaruzzaman, Assoc. Prof. Dr.
Keywords:	Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia -- Dissertations Dissertations, Academic -- Malaysia Transparent antenna Solar photovoltaic energy Wireless communication
Issue Date:	30-Mar-2022
Description:	Transparent antennas are special kinds of antennas that possess a certain extent of optical transparency for specialized applications. These are potentially suitable for many novel applications, such as for space exploration of small satellites upon integration with energy harvesters, such as solar cells. The traditional opaque antenna has higher gain, however, these contend with solar cells for the surface area on the same platform. Integration of opaque antenna and solar cell as energy harvester may cause some losses, apart from becoming larger for the transmitting part. In contrast, a transparent antenna can be placed directly on top of solar cells and can therefore co-exist on a limited surface area. A transparent antenna may have higher transparency but faces a major challenge of low gain. This drawback decreases the antenna gain and limits the efficacy of the antenna. Therefore, a transparent antenna with optimized optical transparency and higher gain is crucial for practical implementation. In this research, three objectives are therefore proposed and executed on a novel transparent antenna with a solar cell as an energy harvester. As for the first objective, numerical simulation and performance analysis using Computer Simulation Technology software are conducted to design and optimize four various antenna designs. Antenna performance should have high efficiency, gain, radiation pattern, and low loss in the applied materials. Secondly, the proposed circularly polarized meshed patch antenna size is optimized. The proposed antenna is then modified to reduce the design complexity to the size with a dimension of 30 mm � 30 mm for dual-band resonating frequencies of 2.6 GHz and 3.5 GHz. For the antenna input, a proximity feeding technique to gain the desired expectations of the antenna by utilizing a patch has been fed to the modified meshed antenna comprising both capacitor and inductor parts. Upon achieving initial results, another layer is inserted to the first layer with a permittivity of 3.3 to increase both the gain and the radiation efficiency of the antenna. The radiation specifications of the proposed antenna have thus been enhanced, and the proposed antenna has a gain of 3.4 dB and radiation efficiency of 81.5%. Subsequently, three different antennas are fabricated and optimized with resonance frequencies of 2.6 GHz and 4 GHz to evaluate the antenna results. The outcome shows that the proposed antenna has better radiation characteristics in contrast to a smaller size. Furthermore, gallium-zinc-oxide (GZO) as transparent conducting oxide (TCO) material was developed and optimized to be used for an optically transparent antenna fabrication. GZO was co-sputtered onto glass substrates and then annealed at 450 �C, 500 �C and 550 �C for 60 minutes in a vacuum. The annealing process ensured the formation of the GZO layer with a conductivity of 1.9157 105 S/m and a transparency of 98% for a thickness between 500 nm and 600 nm. The material GZO was tested and validated by performing radio frequency characterization upon application for different optically transparent antennas. Based on the S-parameter result, there is a suitable match in voltage standing wave ratio of 1.52. All the antennas design have been integrated with solar cells and the current-voltage characteristics under 100 mW/cm2 were performed for prototypes with and without transparent antennas for validation. The radiation efficiency of the antenna has increased to 83.5% after integrating a silicon solar cell with an output power of 176.987 mW for a total area of 20 cm2, where the gain has increased to 3.8 dB. In conclusion, all the results in this research show potential usage of the optically transparent antenna as a novel application in wireless communication, such as 5G as well as space applications.,Ph.D.
Pages:	258
Publisher:	UKM, Bangi
Appears in Collections:	Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment / Fakulti Kejuruteraan dan Alam Bina

Items in DSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.