Carbon-fiber composites (CFC’s) replace steel as vehicle chassis material, which leads to reduced radiation efficiency. As the production processes of shark-fin antenna modules shift towards laser direct structuring (LDS), it is investigated, if antenna efficiency can be increased by the introduction of an LDS ground plane. Gain, efficiency, return loss and the radiation patterns of an LDS design, a CFC and an aluminum ground plane are compared for monopole-antennas for 5.9GHz (IEEE 801.11p).
