Electrically-small antennas present high-Q impedances characterized by large reactances and small radiation resistances. For such antennas, the effectiveness of passive matching is severely limited by gain-bandwidth theory, which predicts narrow bandwidths and/or poor gain. With receivers, the inability to resolve this impedance mismatch results in poor signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio, as compared to using a full-size antenna. With transmitters, the consequence is poor power efficiency. However, in many applications full-size antennas are impractical, and a means is required to effectively match their electrically-small counterparts. This paper presents the technique of non-Foster impedance matching, which employs active networks of negative inductors and capacitors to bypass the restrictions of gain-bandwidth theory. We first review the origins and development of non-Foster impedance matching, and then present experimental results for the non-Foster impedance matching of electrically-small dipoles and monopoles. For receivers, our best measurements on the antenna range demonstrate up to 20 dB improvement in S/N over 20-120 MHz; for transmitters, we show a power efficiency improvement which exceeds a factor of two over an 5% bandwidth about 20 MHz with an average signal power of 1 W to the radiation resistance.

Non-Foster synthesis bypasses the gain-bandwidth limitations of conventional LC matching and achieves superior broadband performance by employing negative circuit elements, which are realized via negative impedance converters. The idea is to construct a negative-image model of an antenna, which cancels the antenna's parasitic reactance and transforms its frequency-dependent radiation resistance to a constant value. Successful implementation of negative-image modeling requires the realization of stable, low-loss negative elements. After a discussion of the basic ideas of non-Foster matching, we present experimental results for broadband, stable, high-Q, grounded negative capacitance. Next, in the first experimental confirmation of non-Foster impedance matching for signal reception, we use a floating negative capacitor to cancel a substantial portion of the reactance of a 6-in. monopole antenna. Over 20 -110 MHz, the signal-to-noise ratio improved by up to 6 dB as compared to the same antenna with no matching, or to a lossy-matched blade antenna of twice the size.