Impedance Matching of Electrically Small Antenna with Ni-Zn Ferrite Film

We demonstrate that a partial loading of $Ni_{0.5}Zn_{0.5}Fe_2O_4$ (Ni-Zn ferrite) film remarkably improves impedance matching of electrically small $Ba_3Co_2Fe_{24}O_{41}$ ($Co_2Z$) hexaferrite antenna. A 3 ${\mu}m$ thick Ni-Zn ferrite film was deposited on a silicon wafer by the electrophoresis deposition process and post-annealed at $400^{\circ}C$. The fabricated Ni-Zn ferrite film has saturation magnetization of $268emu/cm^3$ and coercivity of 89 Oe. A partial loading of the Ni-Zn ferrite film on the $Co_2Z$ hexaferrite helical antenna increases antenna return loss to 24.7 dB from 9.0 dB of the $Co_2Z$ antenna. Experimental results show that impedance matching and maximum input power transmission to the antenna without additional matching elements can be realized, while keeping almost the same size as the $Co_2Z$ antenna size.