Polyimide aerogels are strong, low density, low dielectric substrates ideal for use in fabricating antennas. We have previously demonstrated that multi-element patch antenna arrays can be fabricated from the polyimide aerogels, producing antennas with wider bandwidth and higher gain, while reducing weight by as much as 77%.  Currently, we are developing conformal lightweight antenna arrays that will enable communication between lightweight unmanned air vehicles (UAV) and geosynchronous satellites.  This will allow beyond line of site command and control for UAV, increasing their range beyond about a three hundred mile radius.  For the antennas to be able to be conformal to a wing or fuselage of a UAV, the polyimide aerogel substrate must be made more flexible as a thicker substrate.  To accomplish this, we are incorporating aliphatic chains of three to twelve methylenes in the polyimide backbone and studying the effect on myriad properties of the aerogels.  An optimized formulation with the best combination of low density/dielectric constant, mechanical integrity, flexibility and moisture resistance will be fabricated into a 64 element array antenna for flight testing.   <br/>

Conformal, lightweight antennas fabricated using flexible polyimide aerogel substrates

256th National Meeting (2018)

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