Linearly polarized active artificial magnetic conductor

Abstract

An active artificial magnetic conductor comprising an array of unit cells, each unit cell comprising an electrically conductive patch that is connected with an electrically conductive patch of neighboring unit cell in a column of unit cells using a non-Foster negative inductor and having RF isolating plates or walls between rows of unit cells. These isolating plates or walls eliminate undesirable cross coupling between the non-Foster negative inductors. The electrically conductive patches may be formed by metallic patches preferably arranged in the 2D array of such patches. Each patch preferably has a rectilinear shape.

Claims

1. An active artificial magnetic conductor comprising: an array of unit cells arranged in a plurality of rows and columns, each unit cell comprising an electrically conductive patch spaced from a ground plane, the electrically conductive patches of the unit cells arranged in each column of unit cells being coupled via a Non-Foster Circuit (NFC) impedance element to an electrically conductive patch of a neighboring unit cell in each column of unit cells and the electrically conductive patches of the unit cells arranged in each row of unit cells being connected via an electrically conductive isolating wall to said ground plane at a mid point of each electrically conductive patch in the row of unit cells, the electrically conductive isolating walls of the rows of unit cells comprising electrically conductive material which occupies a majority of space between opposing edges of electrically conductive patches in each row of unit cells.

2. The active artificial magnetic conductor of claim 1 wherein each electrically conductive patch is a metallic patch of a predetermined geometric shape.

3. The active artificial magnetic conductor of claim 2 wherein each electrically conductive patch is a square metallic patch.

4. The active artificial magnetic conductor of claim 1 wherein each electrically conductive isolating wall is formed of an integral piece of metal extending across each unit cell.

5. The active artificial magnetic conductor of claim 1 wherein the electrically conductive isolating walls are each formed by linear arrays closely spaced metallic posts.

6. A method of electrically stabilizing an active artificial magnetic conductor, the active artificial magnetic conductor comprising an array of unit cells, each unit cell comprising an electrically conductive patch that is (i) spaced from a ground plane of the active artificial magnetic conductor and (ii) connected to a neighboring electrically conductive patch with a non-Foster negative inductor in a direction parallel to an E-plane, the method comprising reducing E-plane coupling between the non-Foster negative inductors of the active artificial magnetic conductor by disposing, forming or inserting isolating walls in a direction parallel to an H-plane between the non-Foster negative inductors, the isolating walls further extending in a direction perpendicular to said E-plane between neighboring electrically conductive patches and occupying a majority of a space between opposing edges of the neighboring electrically conductive patches in the direction perpendicular to said E-plane, the isolating walls being coupled to said ground plane.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the array of unit cells comprises a two dimensional array of unit cells arranged in columns and rows, the isolating walls are disposed between pairs electrically conductive patches at a mid point of each of said pairs of electrically conductive patches in adjacent rows of electrically conductive patches while the non-Foster negative inductors are disposed at a mid point of each electrically conductive patch in adjacent columns of electrically conductive patches.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein the isolating walls are formed of a solid plate of metallic material.

9. The method of claim 6 wherein each unit cell has dielectric material disposed between the electrically conductive patch and the ground plane of the active artificial magnetic conductor, the isolating walls being formed by forming a plurality of vias in said dielectric substrate and filling said vias with a metallic material.

10. The method of claim 6 wherein each electrically conductive patch has a rectilinear shape.

11. The method of claim 6 wherein each electrically conductive patch has a square shape.

12. The method of claim 11 where the active artificial magnetic conductor is responsive to incident RF waves and wherein said E-plane and said H-plane correspond, respectively, to an E-plane and said H-plane of said incident RF waves.

13. An active artificial magnetic conductor responsive to incident RF waves, the active artificial magnetic conductor comprising an array of unit cells, each unit cell comprising an electrically conductive patch that is (i) spaced from a ground plane of the active artificial magnetic conductor and (ii) connected to neighboring electrically conductive patches with non-Foster negative inductors in a direction parallel to an E-plane of the incident RF waves, the active artificial magnetic conductor including means for reducing the E-plane coupling between the non-Foster negative inductors of the active artificial magnetic conductor comprising isolating walls disposed, formed or inserted in a direction perpendicular to the E-plane between the non-Foster negative inductors, the isolating walls being disposed in a common linear direction between neighboring electrically conductive patches parallel to the H-plane of the incident RF waves, each isolating wall extending between the ground plane of the active artificial magnetic conductor and the electrically conductive patch of each unit cell, each isolating wall occupying a majority of a space between opposing edges of the electrically conductive patches in the direction perpendicular to the E-plane.

14. The active artificial magnetic conductor of claim 13 wherein the array of unit cells comprises a two dimensional array of unit cells arranged in columns and rows, the isolating walls being disposed at a mid point of each electrically conductive patch in a row of electrically conductive patches while the non-Foster negative inductors are disposed at a mid point of each electrically conductive patch in a column of electrically conductive patches.

15. The active artificial magnetic conductor of claim 13 wherein the isolating walls comprise a solid plate of metallic material extending between opposing edges of the electrically conductive patch of each unit cell.

16. The active artificial magnetic conductor of claim 13 wherein each unit cell has a dielectric material disposed between the electrically conductive patches and the ground plane of the active artificial magnetic conductor, the isolating walls being defined by a plurality of metallic posts in said dielectric substrate.

17. The active artificial magnetic conductor of claim 16 wherein said metallic posts associated with each unit cell are arranged in a rectilinear array of posts.

18. The active artificial magnetic conductor of claim 13 wherein each electrically conductive patch has a rectilinear shape.

19. The active artificial magnetic conductor of claim 18 wherein each electrically conductive patch has a square shape.

20. A magnetic conductor comprising: an array of unit cells arranged in a plurality of rows and columns, each unit cell comprising an electrically conductive patch spaced from a ground plane, the electrically conductive patches of the unit cells arranged in each column of unit cells being coupled via a Non-Foster Circuit (NFC) impedance element to an electrically conductive patch of a neighboring unit cell in each column of unit cells, the electrically conductive patches of the unit cells arranged in each row of unit cells having an electrically conductive isolating wall connected to said ground plane and connected at a mid point of each electrically conductive patch in the row of unit cells and the electrically conductive isolating walls of the rows of unit cells extending along a majority of the distance between opposing edges of electrically conductive patches in each row of unit cells.

21. The magnetic conductor of claim 20 wherein each electrically conductive patch is a metallic patch of a predetermined geometric shape.

22. The magnetic conductor of claim 21 wherein each electrically conductive patch has a square metallic patch.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1. depicts an AAMC unit cell architecture.

(2) FIG. 2a shows a NFC IC disposed on a carrier board while FIG. 2b depicts an equivalent circuit model of the NFC on the NFC IC.

(3) FIG. 3 provides graphs of the equivalent circuit parameters of a prior-art non-Foster circuit vs. an applied bias voltage that is used to tune its negative inductance.

(4) FIGS. 4a1, 4a2, and 4a3 depict embodiments of a linearly-polarized AAMC with respective plan (FIG. 4a1) and side views (FIG. 4a2) of a first embodiment thereof. FIG. 4a3 is a side elevational view showing optional RF isolation plate connection features compared to the embodiment of FIGS. 4a1 and 4a2. RF isolation plates are installed between rows of elements to prevent coupling between NFCs in neighboring rows (i.e. along the E plane) from causing instability.

(5) FIGS. 4b1 and 4b2 show a plan (or top) view and a side elevational perspective (or end perspective) view, respectively, of a prototype AAMC with isolating plates therein. Since this is a prototype, dielectric tape can be seen, particularly in FIG. 4b2, helping to hold the prototype together for testing purposes.

(6) FIGS. 5a and 5b depict the reflection properties of the AAMC prototype of FIGS. 4a and 4b, with FIG. 5a showing the phase and magnitude of an incident wave when reflected from the AAMC vs. frequency for various NFC tuning and FIG. 5b showing the 90 bandwidth for the AAMC and for a varactor-loaded passive AMC. The three simulations (depicted by dashed lines) are, in order of increasing bandwidth, 1) the capacitively loaded AMC, 2) the AAMC loaded with the NFC equivalent-circuit parameters, and 3) the AAMC loaded with ideal negative inductance with no parasitic circuit elements.

(7) FIG. 6 depicts an embodiment where the isolation plates are formed by a series of posts.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(8) This invention comprises an AAMC having a plurality of unit cells 19, each unit cell 19 comprising a metallic patch 22 disposed spaced from a ground plane 24 by a substrate 28. See FIGS. 4a1 and 4a2. The metallic patch 22 of the cells 19 are connected to a metallic patch 22 of a neighboring cell 19 with non-Foster negative inductors 30 in one direction. The AAMC further has RF isolation plates 20 disposed or arranged within the substrate 28. These isolation plates 20 stabilize the AAMC by reducing the E-plane coupling between the negative inductors.

(9) But before discussing the use of such isolation plates 20 to stabilize the AAMC it might be useful to first discuss the theoretical underpinnings of AMCs and AAMCs in general and how NFCs 30 may be implemented.

(10) AMCs and AAMCs

(11) An AMC is characterized by its resonant frequency, .sub.0, which is where an incident wave is reflected with 0 phase shift, and by its 90 bandwidth, which is defined as the frequency range where the reflected phase is within the range |.sub.r|<90. AMC response can be accurately modeled over a limited frequency range using an equivalent parallel LRC circuit with L.sub.AMC, C.sub.AMC, and R.sub.AMC as the circuits' inductance, capacitance and resistance respectively. See the papers by Gregoire, Costa, Kern, White identified above as well as U.S. Pat. No. 8,976,077 issued Mar. 10, 2015 noted above. The circuit impedance is

(12) $\begin{array}{cc}{Z}_{\mathrm{AMC}}=\frac{j{L}_{\mathrm{AMC}}}{1-{}^2{L}_{\mathrm{AMC}}{C}_{\mathrm{AMC}}+j{L}_{\mathrm{AMC}}/R_{\mathrm{AMC}}}.& \left(\mathrm{Eqn}.1\right)\end{array}$

(13) The resonant frequency and approximate fractional bandwidth (see the paper by Sievenpiper identified above) in the limit .sub.0L.sub.AMC<<Z.sub.0 are

(14) $\begin{array}{cc}{}_0=\frac{1}{\sqrt{L_{\mathrm{AMC}}{C}_{\mathrm{AMC}}}},\mathrm{BW}={}_0{L}_{\mathrm{AMC}}/Z_0,& \left(\mathrm{Eqn}.2\right)\end{array}$
where Z.sub.0 is the incident wave impedance.

(15) An AMC of the form shown in FIG. 1, where a grounded dielectric substrate is covered with a grid of electrically conductive patches loaded with lumped elements between the patches can be approximated by a simple transmission line model (see the papers by Gregoire and Sievenpiper identified above), which expresses the AMC admittance as the sum of the grid admittance Y.sub.g, the load admittance Y.sub.load, and the substrate admittance Y.sub.sub

(16) $\begin{array}{cc}{Y}_{\mathrm{AMC}}=Y_g+Y_{\mathrm{load}}+Y_{\mathrm{sub}}.& \left(\mathrm{Eqn}.3\right)\\ Y_{\mathrm{sub}}=-j\cot \left(\sqrt{\mathrm{.Math.}}d\right)\sqrt{\mathrm{.Math.}/},& \left(\mathrm{Eqn}.4\right)\end{array}$
where d is the dielectric thickness, and and are the substrate's permittivity and permeability respectively. Y.sub.sub is expressed in terms of a frequency-dependent inductance, L.sub.sub=j/(Y.sub.sub) which is approximately a constant L.sub.subd for thin substrates with {square root over ()}d<<1. The grid impedance of the impedance elements formed by the electrically conductive patches (which may be embodied, without implying a limitation, as metallic square shaped elements) is capacitive, Y.sub.g=j C.sub.g, and can be accurately estimated analytically. See, in this regard, the paper by Sievenpiper identified above as well as O. Luukkonen et al, Simple and accurate analytical model of planar grids and high-impedance surfaces, IEEE Trans. Antennas Prop., vol. 56, 1624, 2008. The electrically conductive patches may assume other geometric shapes than a square shape (FIG. 1 shows a rectangular shape) and may be made of electrically conductive materials such as, without implying a limitation, metals such as copper or aluminum. Moreover a convenient metal to use is copper since the copper patches can be conveniently made from a circuit board materials. A suitable circuit board material is Rogers Corporation under their material name RO4003. Of course, other circuit board materials made by Rogers Corporation or by other manufacturers are doubtlessly suitable as well to form the electrically conductive patches on a dielectric surface with a ground plate (formed of a metal such as copper) on the opposite side of the dielectric surface from the electrically conductive patches also formed of a metal such as copper.

(17) The loaded AMC reflection properties can be estimated by equating the LRC circuit parameters of Eqn. 1 to quantities in the transmission line model (see Eqns. 3 and 4). If the load is capacitive, then the equivalent LRC circuit parameters are
L.sub.AMC=L.sub.sub, C.sub.AMC=C.sub.g+C.sub.load and R.sub.AMC=R.sub.load.(Eqn. 5)

(18) If the load is inductive as it is in the AAMC, then they are

(19) $\begin{array}{cc}{L}_{\mathrm{AMC}}=\frac{L_{\mathrm{Load}}{L}_{\mathrm{sub}}}{L_{\mathrm{Load}}+L_{\mathrm{sub}}},C_{\mathrm{AMC}}=C_g\mathrm{and}{R}_{\mathrm{AMC}}=R_{\mathrm{load}}.& \left(\mathrm{Eqn}.6\right)\end{array}$

(20) An active AMC is created when the load inductance is negative, and L.sub.AMC increases according to (Eqn. 6). When L.sub.load<0 and |L.sub.load|>L.sub.sub>0, then L.sub.AMC>L.sub.sub, resulting in an increase in the AMC bandwidth, and a decrease in the resonant frequency according to (Eqn. 2). When L.sub.load approaches L.sub.sub, then L.sub.AMC is maximized, the resonant frequency is minimized and the bandwidth is maximized. The bandwidth and resonant frequency are prevented from going to infinity and 0 respectively by loss and capacitance in the NFC and the AMC structure.

(21) AAMCs and Non-Foster Circuits

(22) The AAMC is loaded with non-Foster circuit (NFC) negative inductors (see the papers by Gregiore and White identified above). The NFC is the semiconductor element that enables realization of the AAMC with a relatively high bandwidth when compared with an AMC without NFCs. The words non-Foster in non-Foster circuit (NFC) allude to the fact that the NFC circumvents Foster's reactance theorem (see R. M. Foster., A reactance theorem, Bell Systems Technical Journal, vol. 3, pp. 259-267, 1924 (hereinafter Foster)) utilizing an active circuit (preferably formed by a small semiconductor circuit) to cause the NFC to synthesize either a capacitor having a negative value or an inductor having a negative value depending upon the type of NFC utilized. The NFCs used with the AAMC herein preferably synthesize an inductor having a negative value. Details of an NFC circuit design and fabrication are given in the paper by White noted above, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. A NFC synthesizing an inductor having a negative value can be represented by the equivalent circuit model shown in FIG. 2b. In this model, L.sub.NFC is the desired negative inductance, while R.sub.NFC is a negative resistance. C.sub.NFC and G.sub.NFC are positive capacitance and conductance, respectively. In an ideal NFC, R.sub.NFC, C.sub.NFC and G.sub.NFC are all equal to zero. The equivalent circuit parameters vary according to the bias voltage applied and some prior-art NFC circuit parameters are plotted in the graphs of FIG. 3.

(23) Non-Foster Circuits and AAMC Instability

(24) The NFCs noted above can become unstable when the bias voltage goes too high and when they have detrimental coupling with neighboring NFCs. Instability is manifested as circuit oscillation and emission of unwanted radiation. Coupling between neighboring NFCs in the E plane (i.e. between NFCs in neighboring rows in FIG. 4a1) cause the AAMC to be unstable (but for the presence of the RF isolation plates 20 described in grater detail below). When the NFCs in an AAMC become unstable, the AAMC no longer operates as desired.

(25) The present invention addresses the second instability problem noted in the preceding paragraph (the instability caused due to detrimental coupling with neighboring NFCs 30) by introducing RF isolation plates 20 disposed parallel to the H plane of incident RF waves on the AAMC. These isolation plates 20 preferably span the substrate 28 of the AAMC between the rows of the metallic elements or patches 22 and a ground plane 24 of the AAMC. Each isolation plate 20, when viewed in a top down view such as that seen in FIG. 4a1, extends linearly in a row between adjacent columns of the metallic elements or patches 22.

(26) See FIGS. 4a1 and 4a2 which are drawings depicting a plan (or top) view and a side elevational (or end) view of a prototype AAMC, respectively. The H plane lies parallel to the x-z plane while the E plane lies parallel to the y-z plane as identified on FIGS. 4a1 and 4a2. The intended or expected polarization of the electric field denoted by the arrow on FIG. 4a1 marked as polarization, which is a projection of the electric field vector of incident RF wave on the major surface of the AAMC, is in the E plane. In FIG. 4a1 the direction of polarization (as projected on the major surface of the AAMC) is depicted as being in the y direction; however, direction of polarization may be in a direction different than the y-direction so that is also has a x-direction component. The isolation plates 20 connect patches 22 in a row perpendicular (orthogonal) to the direction of polarization as denoted by the aforementioned arrow. In FIG. 4a2 the isolation plates 20 are shown abutting patches 22, but as will be seen, it may be easier to manufacture the AAMC (i) if the isolation plates 20 penetrate rather than abut patches 22 (see FIG. 4a3) or (ii) if the isolation plates 20 are formed by a plurality of posts 21 (see FIG. 6). The isolation plates 20 are preferably disposed along a mid point of each patch 22 in a row (in the x-direction) of patches 22.

(27) In the upper left hand corner of FIG. 4a3 are arrows denoting the directions of the E and H fields as well at the direction of propagation (the k vector) of an incident RF wave, assuming that the incident RF wave is normal (i.e. perpendicular) to the major surface the AAMC (the plane of the major surface of the AAMC is identified a dashed line 18 on FIGS. 4a2 and 4a3). However, those skilled in this technology will recognize the fact that the incident RF wave may instead be oblique to the major surface of the AAMC in which case the direction indicated for the E & H fields would be rotated so that ={circumflex over (k)}, where is the unit vector in the direction of the incident electric RF waves, is the unit vector in the direction of the incident magnetic RF waves and {circumflex over (k)} is the unit vector in the direction of the propagation of the incident RF waves.

(28) Impedance load elements 30, preferably formed by negative inductance NFCs, couple neighboring patch elements 22 arranged in columns following the y axis of FIG. 4a1 by imposing their synthesized negative inductance between those neighboring patch elements 22. The NFCs 30 are preferably disposed at a mid point of each patch 22 in a column (in the y-direction) of patches 22.

(29) See also FIGS. 4b1 and 4b2 show a plan (or top) view and a side elevational perspective (or end perspective) view, respectively, of a prototype AAMC with isolating plates 20. The NFCs 30 in this embodiment are mounted on the carrier board of FIG. 2a and plurality of the carrier boards of FIG. 2a (with NFCs 30) are mounted on the embodiment of FIGS. 4b1 and 4b2. The isolating plates 20 span the substrate 28 from its ground plane 24 to a number of the metallic patch elements 22 disposed in a row following the x axis. The metallic patch elements 22 may each be formed in a common square shape as shown (it being understood that the metallic patches 22 may assume other geometric shapes, including rectangles, if desired) which are arranged is a two dimensional array disposed on substrate 28. The metallic patch elements 22 are spaced from each other on substrate 28 by a distance or gap 26 so that some of the underlying substrate 28 may be seen between them in FIG. 4al. Impedance load elements 30, preferably formed by negative inductance NFCs, couple neighboring patch elements 22 arranged in columns following the y axis of FIG. 4a1 and are disposed as shown in the gaps 26. The RF isolation plates 20 are ohmically coupled to the patch elements 22 overlying them as well as to the underlying ground plane 24. The RF isolation plates 20 may abut the patch elements 22 and the ground plane 24 (as shown in the embodiment of FIGS. 4a1 and 4a2 and in the embodiment of FIG. 6) or the RF isolation plates 20 may protrude thru (penetrate) the patch elements 22 and the ground plane 24, if desired (see the embodiment of FIGS. 4b1-4b3).

(30) Openings (not shown) may be provided in substrate 28 to allow for electrical connections to be made to the DC connections or pads (see for example FIG. 2a) of the impedance load elements 30, preferably formed by negative inductance NFCs. The RF connections or pads, where the negative inductance is synthesized, are connected to the patches 22 disposed on either side of the NFCs 30.

(31) The AAMC operates for incident RF waves polarized perpendicular to the isolation plates 20 as denoted by the arrow on FIG. 4al. Incident radiation polarized along the other axis will be reflected as from a metal conductor because of its interaction with the isolation plates 20. NFCs 30 adjacent to each other in the H plane do not couple in an unstable manner. The arrow of FIG. 4a1 shows the direction of the electric field vector for incident RF waves that are co-polarized to the AAMC. Note that the direction of the electric field vector for incident RF waves is perpendicular (orthogonal) to the planes occupied by isolation plates 20.

(32) Optionally, as is depicted by FIG. 4a3, each metallic patch element 22 may be formed in two parts (22.sub.1 and 22.sub.2) to allow a proximate elongate edge 20.sub.p of each RF isolation plate 20 to protrude through each metallic patch element 22 to facilitate making an electrical connection (at 32) between the RF isolation plates 20 and the neighboring parts 22.sub.1 and 22.sub.2 of an adjacent metallic patch element 22. The distal elongate edge 20.sub.d of each RF isolation plate 20 may similarly protrude through the ground plane 24 to facilitate making an electrical connection (at 32) between the RF isolation plates 20 and ground plane 24, as also shown in FIG. 4a3. The connections at 32 may be formed by soldering, brazing, a conductive adhesive (such as epoxy laden with silver) or by the use of electrically conductive tape or even by some mechanical means such as mechanical fasteners or a compression or spring contact force or tension at 32.

(33) FIGS. 5a and 5b show measurements of the coax AAMC (see Gregoire) that confirm its operation as a stable wideband AMC with normal (perpendicular to the major surface of the AAMC) incidence of the RF wave. The NFC inductance was tuned from 70 to 49.5 nH. The phase and magnitude of a reflected wave vs. frequency for is shown in FIG. 5a. In this AAMC, the resonant frequency can be tuned from approximately 470 MHz to 220 MHz while maintaining stability. When tuned to 263 MHz, (represented by the bold line in FIG. 5a with NFC inductance tuned to 51.5 nH), the 90 bandwidth is more than 80%, spanning the range from 160 to 391 MHz. The AAMC has much higher bandwidth than an equivalently-sized passive AMC using varactors instead of NFCs (see FIG. 5b). The AAMC has better than five times the bandwidth of the varactor-loaded passive AMC at high loading levels. The AAMC measured for FIG. 5b had square patches 22 which were 65 mm on a side, spaced apart by a gap 26 of 10 mm and disposed on a dielectric substrate 28 formed of a foam dielectric such as styrofoam or Rohacell foam made by Evonik Industries AG of Essen, Germany.

(34) These graphs show stability when the AAMC includes the RF isolation plates 20 disclosed herein. Building the AAMC without the RF isolation plates 20 disclosed herein resulted in instability.

(35) The substrate 28 shown in FIGS. 4a1-4a3 may be a dielectric material such as that found in printed circuit boards in printed circuit board material may be conveniently used to make the disclosed Linearly Polarized Active Artificial Magnetic Conductor. However, other materials may be used instead and indeed the substrate material 28 may be omitted altogether since air or a vacuum also function as a dielectric.

(36) The RF isolation plates 20 couple the patches 22 to the ground plane in some ways similar the single post (see the via to ground) shown in FIG. 1, but the laterally extending walls formed by the RF isolation plates 20 preferably completely span the AAMC from one side thereof to the other side thereof as shown in FIG. 4a1 markedly improve stability by isolating the detrimental coupling which otherwise occurs between neighboring NFCs 30. Having said that, it is believed that the RF isolation plates 20 can be implemented more like a fence or a screen (rather than necessarily a solid wall of metallic material). For example, each RF isolation plate 20 may be made up of many relatively small metallic RF isolation plates or posts 21 arranged in rows. See FIG. 6 where many posts 21 are shown disposed between (and ohmically coupled to) each patch 22 and the ground plane 24. Look again at FIG. 4a1 where the the RF isolation plates 20 are depicted by dashed lines since they are under the patches 22 in that view of that embodiment. But now consider that each of those dashes represents a post 21 of an RF isolation plate 20 as opposed to a solid metallic wall forming an RF isolation plate 20, which would then correspond to the embodiment of FIG. 6.

(37) The spacings of the posts 21 in the embodiment of FIG. 6 need to be sufficiently close to isolate the detrimental coupling which otherwise occurs between neighboring NFCs 30. Preferably the fill factor of the posts is at least 50% (so that the gaps between the posts are preferably smaller than the widths of the posts themselves). It may well be easier from a manufacturing point of view to fill a large number of vias with metallic material to thereby form the posts 21 which in turn define the RF isolation plates 20 as opposed to making the RF isolation plates 20 from discrete pieces of metal and then inserting them into or disposing them in the AAMC. The posts 21 may also fill the gaps 26 if needed for better isolation the detrimental coupling which can occur between neighboring NFCs 30. Also the posts 21 may be so closely positioned relative to each other as to effectively create an essentially solid wall of metal (so the fill factor is then essentially 100%), so the wall 20 may be formed by the metallic disposition of metal using printed circuit board or 3D printing techniques as opposed to making the RF isolation plates 20 from discrete pieces of metal. Indeed, 3D printing techniques can likely be used to fabricate the entire AAMC except for the NFCs 30 which can be made using semiconductor fabrication techniques.

(38) Also instead of making the RF isolation plate 20 from a solid wall of metallic material or from rows of posts 21, the RF isolation plate 20 may alternatively be formed from a screen or mesh of electrically conductive material if desired. But if a mesh or screen is used in lieu of a solid wall of material, the fill factor of the metal in the screen or mesh would preferably be greater than 50% to better achieve the desired isolation between the NFCs 30. To help connote that fact that the isolation plate 20 need not necessarily be formed solid metallic material, the term isolating wall is used in the appended claims.

(39) Each patch 22 is coupled to the ground plane 24 preferably by the aforementioned RF isolation plates 20 (or posts 21). The patches 22 may also be coupled to ground by other means such as by installing the AAMC in a metallic cavity (when used with cavity-backed slot antenna for example) so that the edges of the metallic cavity also act to couple patches at the edges of the cavity to ground. The patches 22 and the ground plane 24 may be formed of copper and may each be of the same thickness.

(40) Having now described the invention in accordance with the requirements of the patent statute, those skilled in this art will understand how to make changes and modifications to the present invention to meet their specific requirements or conditions. Such changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed herein.

(41) The foregoing Detailed Description of exemplary embodiments is presented for purposes of illustration and disclosure in accordance with the requirements of the patent statute. It is not intended to be exhaustive nor to limit the invention to the precise form(s) described, but only to enable others skilled in the art to understand how the invention may be suited for a particular use or implementation. The possibility of modifications and variations will now be apparent to practitioners skilled in the art. No limitation is intended by the description of exemplary embodiments which may have included tolerances, feature dimensions, specific operating conditions, engineering specifications, or the like, and which may vary between implementations or with changes to the state of the art, and no limitation should be implied therefrom. Applicant has made this disclosure with respect to the current state of the art, but also contemplates advancements and that adaptations in the future may take into consideration of those advancements, namely in accordance with the then current state of the art. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the Claims as written and equivalents as applicable. Reference to a claim element in the singular is not intended to mean one and only one unless explicitly so stated. Moreover, no element, component, nor method or process step in this disclosure is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether the element, component, or step is explicitly recited in the Claims. No claim element herein is to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. Sec. 112, sixth paragraph, unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase means for . . . and no method or process step herein is to be construed under those provisions unless the step, or steps, are expressly recited using the phrase comprising the step(s) of . . . .