A compact double‐layer wideband circularly polarized microstrip antenna with parasitic elements

In this article, a new broadband circularly polarized (CP) microstrip patch antenna (MPA) with a sequential phase (SP) square‐loop feeding structure is proposed. The presented antenna is composed of a square‐loop feeding structure, four L‐shaped parasitic patches with L‐shaped slots, four parasitic square patches, and a corner‐truncated square patch. At first, a SP square‐loop is designed as a feeding structure. Then, four L‐shaped parasitic patches with L‐shaped slots are utilized to generate one CP mode by a capacitive coupled way. At last, four parasitic square patches and a corner‐truncated square patch are together placed above the SP feeding structure to broaden the circularly polarized bandwidth (CPBW). The presented antenna has a wide 3‐dB axial ratio bandwidth (ARBW) of 16.7% (5.4 GHz, 4.95‐5.85 GHz), and a wide 10‐dB return loss bandwidth of 25.5% (5.5 GHz, 4.8‐6.2 GHz). The proposed antenna features compact structure and broad 3‐AR bandwidth which could completely cover the WLAN (5.725‐5.85GHz) band. Therefore, the proposed antenna is suitable for circular polarization applications in C band.     

Design of a tunable omnidirectional circularly polarized antenna based on VO2

In this article, a VO₂‐based tunable omnidirectional circularly polarized (CP) antenna is designed. The proposed antenna combines copper and metamaterial VO₂. By utilizing the characteristics of insulator‐metal phase transition of VO₂, we can change the length of the resonant branches to achieve tunable working bandwidth. The proposed antenna is composed of a modified floor loaded with VO₂ and copper resonant branches, a top patch with slits, and 14 shorting vias connecting the top path and bottom floor. Different from the traditional electric controlled antennas, antennas based on metamaterial VO₂ do not need to design complicated circuit structures and can be easily tailored by the external temperature (T). The simulated results illustrate that when T ≥ 68°C (state I), the proposed antenna has a 10‐dB impedance bandwidth of 15.9% (2.09‐2.45 GHz), and a 3‐dB axial ratio (AR) bandwidth of 23.4% (2.04‐2.58 GHz). When T < 68°C (state II), it has a bandwidth of 6.5% (2.38‐2.54 GHz) with S₁₁ below ?10 dB, and a bandwidth of 19.9% (2.39‐2.92 GHz) with AR below 3 dB.     

Miniaturized low‐profile antenna based on uniplanar quasi‐composite right/left‐handed metamaterial

In this article, a metamaterial‐based broadband low‐profile antenna is presented. The proposed antenna employed an array of uniplanar quasi‐composite right/left‐hand (CRLH) metamaterial cells. This structure contributes to exciting the operating modes in lower frequencies. The antenna has an overall electrical size of 0.75 × 0.60 × 0.07 λ₀³ (λ₀ is the center operating wavelength in free space) and provides a 25% measured bandwidth with the center frequency of 5.1 GHz and maximum gain of 6.6 dB. The proposed antenna is an appropriate candidate for WLAN, WiMAX, and other wireless communication applications.     

一种易调谐的小型GPS微带天线设计

提出了一款新颖的易调谐小型GPS微带天线结构。采用正方形贴片作为辐射单元,通过切角微扰实现右旋圆极化辐射;在贴片中心开槽和四周开缝,利用贴片曲流技术减小天线的尺寸;使用同轴中心馈电加载微带匹配段,实现阻抗的匹配。文章给出了天线的设计思路,并进行了大量的电磁仿真优化,最终对天线进行了加工实验。实验结果表明,在设计的频带内,天线具有较好的阻抗匹配和圆极化辐射特性。该天线具有结构紧凑、易于调谐的特点,具有良好的应用前景。     

Gain enhancement and mutual coupling reduction of multiple‐intput multiple‐output antenna for millimeter‐wave applications using two types of novel metamaterial structures

A method to significantly increase the gain and reduce the mutual coupling of microstrip multiple‐intput multiple‐output (MIMO) antenna based on metamaterial concept is presented. The μ‐negative and ε‐negative features of the proposed modified peace‐logo planar metamaterial (MPLPM) and two‐sided MPLPM (TSMPLPM) structures are calculated. The antenna structure consists of eight MPLPM slabs and two TSMPLPM, which are embedded in azimuth plane of a MIMO antenna vertically. The dimensions of MIMO antenna are 28 × 16 × 6.3 mm³ at 40 GHz. As a result, a compact MIMO antenna is simulated in comparison with primary microstrip structures. The corresponding return‐loss of the antenna is better than 10 dB over 34.5 to 45.5 GHz for Ka‐band applications. Good consent between the measured and simulated result is tacked. The maximum simulated gain of the structure is 15.5 dB at 40 GHz, creating a maximum gain improvement of 11.5 dB in comparison with a MIMO antenna without any metamaterial combinations. The value of the insertion‐loss (isolation) is 33 dB, which has improved by more than 25 dB compared to the conventional sample.     

A metasurface‐based wideband bidirectional same‐sense circularly polarized antenna

This article presents a wideband bidirectional same‐sense circularly polarized (CP) antenna based on metasurface structure. The antenna consists of a rectangular slot and two identical layers of periodic metallic plates as metasurfaces (MSs). The MS structure is formed by 16 unit cells of truncated‐corner patches arranged in 4 × 4 configuration. For bidirectional beam realization, the MSs are positioned on both the front and back sides of the primary radiating slot. In the proposed design, the MSs act as a polarization conversion structures, which convert the linearly polarized wave produced by the rectangular slot to the CP wave. The final antenna has a profile of 0.13λ _o and lateral dimensions of 0.86λ _o × 0.67λ _o at the center operating frequency. Measurements show that the proposed design radiates left‐hand CP radiation for both front and back directions over wide operating bandwidth of 14.3% (5.2‐6.0 GHz). In addition, the average gain value is about 4.2 dBi and the radiation efficiency is always better than 83% across the operating band. To the best of authors' knowledge, the proposed one shows a state‐of‐the‐art operating bandwidth in comparison with other reported designs.     

Dual‐band reconfigurable circularly polarized monopole antenna

A microstrip antenna with dual‐band reconfigurable circular polarization (CP) characteristics in Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) bands is presented in this article. The proposed antenna has a symmetrical U‐shaped slot with PIN diodes on the ground plane. The slotted ground generates a resonant mode for broad impedance‐band width, and excites contrary CP state at 2.45 GHz for WLAN and 3.4 GHz for WiMAX, respectively. Because switching the states of PIN diodes on the slot can redirect the current path, the CP state of the proposed antenna can be simply switched between the right‐handed CP and left‐handed CP. The proposed antenna has a low profile and a simple structure. Measured results of the fabricated antenna prototype are carried out to verify the simulation analysis. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 25:109–114, 2015.     

Application of metamaterials for performance enhancement of planar antennas: A review

Metamaterials are assemblies of metallic and/or dielectric materials with properties that are not readily found in naturally existing materials. Hence, metamaterial structures are commonly loaded on/near the patch, embedded in the substrate, loaded/etched from the ground plane or placed as a superstrate layer for enhancing bandwidth and gain, and size miniaturization of conventional patch antennas. The demand for wide bandwidth, high gain, and compact antennas is highly contemplated in recent wireless communication research studies. Despite their lightweight, ease of fabrication, low profile, and simplicity for integration, patch antennas have performance limitations as result of their narrow bandwidth, lower gain, larger size, and lower power handling capacity. To address these problems, metamaterial‐based antennas have gained massive interest. There exist inadequate literatures about review of current state of extensive study reports on metamaterial application for patch antenna performance enhancement. Thus, this paper has reviewed and discussed latest research works on metamaterial applications for performance enhancement of planar patch antennas.     

Wideband bow‐tie antenna with increased gain and directivity by using high impedance surface

Metamaterial surfaces offer a wide range of advantages in terms of antenna design. One such metamaterial is designed to capture the benefits of both high‐impedance surfaces as well as artificial magnetic surfaces. The confluence of both these properties delivers an added advantage to planar antennas by delivering high gain and directivity simultaneously. Bidirectional radiation pattern has been transformed to a directional radiation pattern by placing the metamaterial as substrate beneath the antipodal bowtie antenna. In addition, zero separation between the antenna and metasurface ensures low profile. The proposed design has been verified both by simulation and measurement which have shown an improvement on gain of 3.2 dBi with an almost steady gain response inside the resonating band of the antenna which lies between 12 and 16 GHz.     

Dual segment rectangular dielectric resonator antenna with metamaterial for improvement of bandwidth and gain

The simulation and experimental studies of an aperture‐coupled wideband dual segment rectangular dielectric resonator antenna with metamaterial for C‐band applications are presented in this paper. The antenna consists of Alumina (Al₂O₃) ceramic as upper segment and Teflon as lower segment. The combination of circular‐shaped coplanar split‐ring resonator and conducting strip has been used as metamaterial superstrate. With the use of metamaterial superstrate, the bandwidth of the antenna is increased by 48% through simulation and 22% experimentally. The broadside radiation pattern of the antenna is converted into directive radiation pattern with reduced beamwidth when metamaterial superstrate is used. The peak gain of the antenna is also enhanced by 33% through simulation and 31% experimentally with the use of metamaterial superstrate. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 24:646–655, 2014.     

Wide bandwidth microstrip antenna with defected patch surface for low cross polarization applications

A simple and single element wide slot dipole loaded shorted rectangular microstrip antenna has been proposed and investigated experimentally for broad impedance bandwidth and improved cross polarized (XP) radiation compared to maximum co‐polarized (CP) gain without changing the co‐polarized (CP) radiation pattern. Around 23‐35 dB isolation between CP and XP radiation along with 25% impedance bandwidth is achieved with the proposed structure. The measured gain of the antenna is around 6.2 dBi over the entire band. The present antenna is very simple and easy to manufacture. Unlike the other structures, the present one is free from back radiation in terms of XP fields. The design of the antenna structure is theoretically justified and rigorously analyzed. The present investigation provides an insightful, clear visualization‐based understanding of the concurrent improvement in both the impedance bandwidth and XP performance with the present structure.     

Bandwidth‐enhancement of circularly‐polarized fabry‐perot antenna using single‐layer partially reflective surface

In this article, we investigate bandwidth‐enhancement of a circularly‐polarized (CP) Fabry‐Perot antenna (FPA) using single‐layer partially reflective surface (PRS). The FPA is composed of a single‐feed truncated‐corner square patch antenna, which is covered by the PRS formed by a square aperture array. We revealed that the finite‐sized PRS produces extra resonances and CP radiations for the antenna system, which broadened the impedance matching and axial ratio (AR) bandwidths significantly. For verification, a broadband CP FPA prototype operating near 5.8 GHz was realized and tested. The fabricated antenna with overall size of 125 mm × 125 mm × 23.5 mm achieves a |S₁₁| < ?10 dB bandwidth of 31.7% (5.23‐7.2 GHz), an AR < 3‐dB bandwidth of 13.7% (5.45‐6.25 GHz), the peak gain of 13.3 dBic, a 3‐dB gain bandwidth of 22.38% (5.0‐6.26 GHz), and a radiation efficiency of >91%.     

A tunable wideband omnidirectional circularly polarized antenna regulated by the gravity field

In this article, a tunable wideband omnidirectional circularly polarized (CP) antenna regulated by the gravity field based on the liquid metal Hg is investigated. Under the action of the gravity field, Hg flows in the upper and lower parts by rotating such an antenna, which can constitute dissimilar resonant units to achieve the dynamic regulation of the operating bandwidths. The proposed antenna consists of four tilted glass containers that are filled with Hg in the upper or lower parts, and a feeding structure for power distribution and impedance matching. To verify concept of the design, equivalent prototypes have been fabricated and measured. The measured results are roughly consistent with simulated results within a reasonable error range. The antenna has a 10‐dB impedance bandwidth of 44.3% (2.37‐3.72 GHz), and a 3‐dB axial ratio (AR) bandwidth of 18.9% (2.83‐3.42 GHz) when the proposed antenna is not rotated (state I). When such an antenna is rotated (state II), it has a bandwidth of 40.7% (2.35‐3.55 GHz) with S₁₁ below ?10 dB, and a bandwidth of 22.9% (2.40‐3.02 GHz) with AR below 3 dB. Therefore, the operating band of the antenna can be altered between two wide bands. The proposed antenna has the advantages of tunable bandwidth, novel efficient regulation mechanism, and simple structure.     

Mutual coupling reduction by SIW ZOR elements on broadside high gain CP beam steering array

In this article, a new circularly polarized (CP) beam steering array antenna based on substrate‐integrated‐waveguide (SIW) is proposed for mm‐wave applications. To generate a wider half power beamwidth (HPBW) and reduce mutual coupling effect a radiation element relying on zeroth order resonance (ZOR) technique has been used which has a treatment such as electromagnetic band gap (EBG) structure to have a specific structure. The antenna element can operate in a bandwidth from 33.82 to 36.37 GHz and AR bandwidth from 34.32 to 35.94 GHz. Besides, the propose element has a HPBW wider than 103°, and a maximum gain of antenna is of 9.2 dBic. A 4 × 4 Butler matrix feed network based on SIW feeding technique is then designed. This feed network includes novel techniques in designing cross‐over and broadband phase shifter. The synthesis of proposed Butler matrix and ZOR elements lead to a four‐beam array antenna with circular polarization can cover a beam switching angles range more than 44° with a gain of 17.6 dBic.     

Study of miniaturized E‐patch antenna loaded with novel E‐shape SRR metamaterial for RFID applications

A new design of compact micro strip antenna, based on a newly structure "E"SRR of metamaterial is proposed and designed using CST Microwave Studio. It has been found that the characteristics of new micro strip antenna with novel designed metamaterials placed in the same plane as the radiating element are comparable to the conventional patch antennas, whereas its gain, directivity, and radiating efficiency are remarkably improved. For the design and fabricated antenna, it shows that with the addition of split ring resonator, the frequency has been shifted from 2.38 GHz to 2.4 GHz. The return loss of this antenna increased from ?60 dB to ?70 dB. The realized gain increased from 7.1 dbi for the antenna alone to 7.31 dbi for the meta‐material antenna. Prototype for all antennas are fabricated and measured. Good agreement between the measured and simulated results is achieved.     

A hexa‐band dual‐sense circularly polarized antenna for WLAN/Wi‐MAX/SDARS and C‐band applications

In this article, a compact single fed hexa‐band circularly polarized (CP) monopole antenna using split ring resonators (SRRs) on the partial ground plane is designed and experimentally investigated. The loaded SRR elements generate multiple circularly polarized bands along with a reduction in antenna size. The multiband can be controlled by changing the configuration of SRRs and their position on the ground plane without altering the monopole radiator. To illustrate the CP mechanism and multiband operation of the proposed configuration, the surface current density has been studied. The antenna is fabricated on RT Duroid 5880 substrate of permittivity 2.2 with a total size of 47 × 40 × 1.57 mm³. Compared with the existing antenna designs, the proposed structure is compact and demonstrates improved multiband performance with circular polarization.     

Wideband circularly polarized rectangular DRA fed with dual pair of right‐angled microstrip line

In this article, design and development of wideband circularly polarized (CP) rectangular dielectric resonator antenna (RDRA) is presented. To generate wideband CP in proposed antenna, different feeding mechanism have been studied. Three antenna configurations based on different feeding have been discussed using single and dual pair of microstrip lines aligned perpendicular to each other to generate orthogonal modes resulting in circular polarization. It has been claimed here that excitation of RHCP/LHCP field and its direction of radiation could be controlled using height of microstrip feed lines. Finally antenna configuration‐3 is fabricated and measured which shows 36.8% of input impedance bandwidth (3.48–5.05 GHz) and axial ratio bandwidth of 14.46% (3.67–4.24 GHz) in broadside direction (at Φ = 0°, θ = 0°). The final proposed structure exhibits consistent far‐field characteristics with average LHCP gain of 6.4 dB and almost stable radiation efficiency in entire operational frequency range. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 26:713–723, 2016.     

Design and fabrication of a new high gain multilayer negative refractive index metamaterial antenna for X‐band applications

This article presents the design of a planar high gain and wideband antenna using a negative refractive index multilayer superstrate in the X‐band. This meta‐antenna is composed of a four‐layer superstrate placed on a conventional patch antenna. The structure resonates at a frequency of 9.4 GHz. Each layer of the metamaterial superstrate consists of a 7 × 7 array of electric‐field‐coupled resonators, with a negative refractive index of 8.66 to 11.83 GHz. The number of layers and the separation of superstrate layers are simulated and optimized. This metamaterial lens has significantly increased the gain of the patch antenna to 17.1 dBi. Measurements and simulation results proved about 10 dB improvement of the gain.     

Gain enhancement of slot antenna using zero‐index metamaterial superstrate

This article presents a technique to enhance the broadside gain of a CPW fed slot antenna using a single layer metamaterial (MTM) superstrate. A finite array of 3 3 ring unit cell has been designed on both sides of a dielectric substrate to form the MTM superstrate. The gain enhancement is obtained using the zero‐index property of the metamaterial. The broadside gain enhancement for the proposed antenna is 7.4 dB more in comparison to that of the reference slot antenna. The proposed MTM superstrate loaded antenna provides a minimum overall thickness in the context of using ZIM superstrate for gain enhancement of antennas reported in earlier literatures. The overall thickness of the MTM loaded antenna is 0.13λ₀, where λ₀ is the free‐space wavelength at the resonance frequency of the antenna. Also, a high efficiency of about 93.2% is obtained in this case. The loading of the MTM superstrate produces a minimal effect on the cross polarization performance of the proposed slot antenna.     

Cross‐polarization reduction of microstrip antenna using microwave absorbers

In this article, a metamaterial inspired microwave absorber is used to reduce the cross‐polarization (XP) level of the radiated wave in microstrip antenna (MSA). A microwave absorber unit‐cell has been analyzed and implemented to reduce the cross polarization (XP) level in a single element and a 2 × 2 microstrip patch array antennas. The antennas have been designed on a FR‐4 substrate of thickness 0.8 mm at 10.1 GHz center frequency. The 2 × 2 patch array antenna with and without the absorbers have been experimentally verified for the S11 parameter, the radiation pattern, and the XP suppression in H‐plane and a good comparison has been found.