Since the discovery of carbon nanotubes, they have been studied widely and used in many applications. In this work, we have designed, fabricated, and tested several carbon nanotube-based patch antennas. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are grown in-house on ceramic substrates using a chemical vapor deposition technique. Iron and carbon are sputtered as the catalyst material before CNTs are grown. Patch antennas are designed for 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequencies. The measured S11 parameter and radiation pattern of each antenna are presented. A comparison with copper patch antenna is made.

This paper is an overview of high voltage electrical insulation of spacecraft electrical components and systems over the past several decades. We understand that everything electrical must be insulated, not just the cables but other components in a power system. In general, understanding electrical insulation and characteristics of dielectrics such as material aging, flashover, tracking, partial discharges, and corona are important. In space/aerospace applications, however, the influence of space environments such as partial pressure, space vacuum, outgassing, ionospheric and space plasma, and spacecraft charging are other contributors that must be additionally considered. Therefore, detailed knowledge of electrical insulation and high-voltage design techniques is essential if reliable high-voltage systems are to be designed and manufactured for space applications.