Design of a compact wideband CP metasurface antenna

In this article, a new compact metasurface circularly polarized (CP) antenna is presented, where the rotating 45° periodic ellipse patch is used to achieve polarization conversion from linearly polarized to CP. The meta‐surface is composed of 4 × 4 ellipse patches with 45° rotation, which are etched on the top layer of upper substrate. A slot ground plane and a coplanar waveguide structure are printed on both sides of bottom substrate, and the bottom substrate is directly connected to the upper substrate, which can make the antenna profile lower. As demonstrated in this article, the presented antennas have good characteristics of excellent 3‐dB axial ratio bandwidth of 17.4% (5.25‐6.25 GHz), and wide 10‐dB impedance bandwidth of 20.6% (5.0‐6.15 GHz).     

A new broadband circularly polarized antenna with a single‐layer metasurface

In this article, a new low‐profile broadband circularly polarized antenna with a single‐layer metasurface is designed. The metasurface is composed of 4 × 4 rotated rectangle‐loops. Compared to single rotated rectangle, introducing inner‐cut rectangle slot can increase the design flexibilities by changing this slot size for wider circularly polarized operating bandwidth and reduce the size of the antenna in same frequency. The proposed antenna has the advantages of a wide 3‐dB axial ratio bandwidth from 5.4 to 6.05 GHz and an excellent 10‐dB impedance bandwidth from 5 to 6.05 GHz.     

High gain CPW‐fed UWB planar monopole antenna‐based compact uniplanar frequency selective surface for microwave imaging

In this article, a novel uniplanar ultra‐wideband (UWB) stop frequency selective surface (FSS) was miniaturized to maximize the gain of a compact UWB monopole antenna for microwave imaging applications. The single‐plane FSS unit cell size was only 0.095λ × 0.095λ for a lower‐operating frequency had been introduced, which was miniaturized by combining a square‐loop with a cross‐dipole on FR4 substrate. The proposed hexagonal antenna was printed on FR4 substrate with coplanar waveguide feed, which was further backed at 21.6 mm by 3 × 3 FSS array. The unit cell was modeled with an equivalent circuit, while the measured characteristics of fabricated FSS array and the antenna prototypes were validated with the simulation outcomes. The FSS displayed transmission magnitude below ?10 dB and linear reflection phase over the bandwidth of 2.6 to 11.1 GHz. The proposed antenna prototype achieved excellent gain improvement about 3.5 dBi, unidirectional radiation, and bandwidth of 3.8 to 10.6 GHz. Exceptional agreements were observed between the simulation and the measured outcomes. Hence, a new UWB baggage scanner system was developed to assess the short distance imaging of simulated small metallic objects in handbag model. The system based on the proposed antenna displayed a higher resolution image than the antenna without FSS.     

Compact CPW‐Fed slot antenna with harmonic suppression

A compact coplanar waveguide (CPW)‐fed uniplanar antenna with harmonic suppression characteristics is presented. The above characteristics are achieved by properly modifying the ground plane and adjusting the signal strip of an open‐ended CPW‐fed transmission line. The simulated and experimental characteristics of the antenna are presented, compared, and discussed. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2011.     

A compact asymmetric slot dual band antenna fed by CPW for PCS and UWB applications

A compact slot antenna with an overall dimension of 30 × 30 × 1.6 mm³ is proposed for dual band applications. The radiating element is a hexagonal shape patch which protrudes from a Co‐Planar Waveguide (CPW) feed into a step shape slot. The slot is basically rectangular in shape and is extended by inserting rectangular cuts of different sizes on the ground plane around it. The ultrawide impedance bandwidth is achieved using asymmetric feed line along with extended rectangular cuts around the slot. For realizing the second band for personal communication system applications (near 1.9 GHz), a metallic stub of quarter wave length is attached at the top of the slot. The measured impedance bandwidth (for S₁₁ < ?10 dB) is 110 MHz (1.86–1.97 GHz) for the first band and 9 GHz (3.0–12.0 GHz) for the second band. The antenna is further characterized by omnidirectional radiation patterns in the H‐plane, dumb‐bell shape radiation patterns in the E‐plane and a peak gain of 3–5 dBi over the ultrawideband. All the measured results are found to be in good agreement with the simulated results. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 25:243–254, 2015.     

Metamaterial inspired CPW‐fed compact antenna for ultrawide band applications

A small size, planar and co‐planar waveguide fed metamaterial inspired antenna is proposed for ultra‐wideband (UWB) application. The main radiating element consists of three split‐ring resonators (SRR) and placed along one axis. Moreover, coplanar waveguide (CPW)‐fed line along with modified ground plane is used to improve the impedance matching. The physical size of proposed antenna is 25(W) × 22 (L) × 1.6 (H) mm³. The CPW‐fed metamaterial inspired antenna provides bandwidth of 10.4 GHz from 3.1 to 13.5 GHz based on the 3:1 (voltage standing wave ratio [VSWR] <2). Over the range of UWB frequency, peak realized gain varies from 2.5 to 4 dBi. The proposed antenna provides omnidrectional radiation patterns. Further, fidelity factor of the proposed antenna is also calculated and measured. The calculated fidelity factor is suitable for UWB applications. Finally, prototype of the antenna is developed and tested using network analyzer. The simulated and measured results are in good agreement.     

Novel ultra‐compact two‐dimensional waveguide‐based metasurface for electromagnetic coupling reduction of microstrip antenna array

A novel ultracompact two‐dimensional (2D) waveguide‐based metasurface is proposed herein and applied for the first time to reduce mutual coupling in antenna array for multiple‐input multiple‐output applications. The unit cell of the proposed 2D waveguide‐based metasurface is ultracompact (8.6 mm × 4.8 mm, equal to λ₀/14.2 × λ₀/25.5) mainly due to the symmetrical spiral lines etched on the ground. The metasurface exhibits a bandgap with two transmission zeros attributing to the negative permeability in the vicinity of magnetic resonance and the negative permittivity in the vicinity of electric resonance. Taking advantage of these two features, a microstrip antenna array is then designed, fabricated, and measured by embedding an 8 × 1 array of the well‐engineered 2D waveguide‐based metasurface elements between two closely spaced (9.2 mm, equal to λ₀/13.3) H‐plane coupled rectangular patches. There is good agreement between the simulated and measured results, indicating that the metasurface effectively reduces antenna mutual coupling by more than 11.18 dB and improves forward gain. The proposed compact structure has one of the highest reported decoupling efficiencies among similar periodic structures with comparable dimensions. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 25:789–794, 2015.     

Novel single‐fed broadband circularly polarized antenna for GNSS applications

This letter presents the design of a broadband microstrip CP antenna using single‐fed technique. The feeding network is integrated within the coupling feed patch to simplify the structure. The proposed antenna is designed for Global Navigation satellite System (GNSS) operating at 1575.42 ± 10.23 MHz (GPS: L1 band), 1559～1592 MHz (Galileo: E2‐L1‐E1 band), 1602 ± 5.625 MHz (GLONASS: L1 band) and 1559.052～1591.788 MHz & 1610～1626.5 MHz (BeiDou Navigation Satellite System B1 and L band). Another advantage of this antenna is the much wider bandwidth in both VSWR and 3 dB axial‐ratio compared with traditional single‐fed CP antennas. Details of design, simulated and experimental results of this CP antenna are presented and discussed. The measured results confirm the validity of this design which meet the requirement of GNSS applications.     

Compact UWB flexible elliptical CPW‐fed antenna with triple notch bands for wireless communications

A coplanar waveguide (CPW)‐fed flexible elliptical antenna with triple band notched characteristics is presented in this article. The designed antenna consists of an elliptical patch and slots incorporated CPW feed line to cover the bandwidth requirements for ultra‐wideband (UWB) applications. The designed UWB antenna has a fractional bandwidth of about 166.19% (1.20‐13 GHz) with a center frequency of 7.1 GHz in simulation and about 170.10% (1.05‐13 GHz) with a center frequency of 7.025 GHz in measurement. The overall dimension of the proposed flexible antenna is 45 × 35 × 0.6 mm³. The triple notched bands are realized by designing with circular shaped split‐ring‐resonators (SRRs) and defected ground structure (DGS). According to the measurement, first notched band (2.0? 2.70 GHz) is generated for rejecting 2.4 GHz WLAN by introducing a single circular ST‐SRR on the radiating patch. The second notch (3.45‐3.80 GHz) is obtained by embedding another circular ST‐SRR on the patch to mitigate the interference of 3.5 GHz Wi‐MAX system. Finally, due to presence of DGS, third notch (5.15‐6.20 GHz) is produced which suppresses the interference from 5.5 GHz Wi‐MAX and 5.2/5.8 GHz WLAN systems. The proposed antenna offers excellent performance in different flexible conditions that confirm its applicability on curved surfaces for UWB systems.     

Broadband low‐profile transmitarray antenna using three‐dimensional cross dipole elements

This article presents a novel transmitarray antenna using three‐dimensional frequency selective structures as the radiating elements. The proposed unit cell, which consists of two cascaded cross dipoles, has a thickness of 0.22λ₀ and provides a 310° transmission phase range with transmission magnitude equal or better than ?0.8 dB. Compared with those conventional transmitarray antennas, the proposed one can realize greater flexibility in the installation with less manufacturing complexity. For the purpose of validation, a transmitarray prototype using the proposed elements has been manufactured and tested at X‐band. The peak gain of 25.5 dB is achieved at the frequency of 10 GHz, resulting in an aperture efficiency of 64%. Besides, antenna bandwidth of 10% for 1‐dB gain is achieved in this design.     

CPW‐fed C‐shaped slot antenna for broadband circularly polarized radiation

A novel broadband circularly polarized (CP) C‐shaped slot antenna fed by a coplanar waveguide is presented. The broadband CP operation can be achieved simply using a C‐shaped slot in the ground to produce orthogonal surface currents for left‐hand circular polarization. Using the semicircle‐shaped radiator patch, wide impedance bandwidth and broad axial‐ratio (AR) bandwidth can be obtained simultaneously. The measured results show that the proposed antenna can provide a 10‐dB impedance bandwidth of 105% from 2.78 to 8.92 GHz, and a 3‐dB AR bandwidth of 70.4% from 2.9 to 6.05 GHz. Finally, an antenna prototype with a reflector for unidirectional pattern applications is also developed. The proposed antenna has broader impedance and CP bandwidths but with a more compact size compared with the previous designs. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 25:739–746, 2015.     

Broadband gap‐coupled half‐hexagonal microstrip antenna fed by microstrip‐line resonator

Half‐hexagonal microstrip antenna (H‐HMSA) is a compact version of HMSA, as it resonates at the same fundamental mode frequency. In this article, a compact configuration of a single layer, broadband gap‐coupled H‐HMSA has been proposed. Gap‐coupled H‐HMSA is fed indirectly by a λ/2 microstrip‐line resonator. Broad bandwidth (BW) is achieved with an effective use of resonance introduced by λ/2 resonator and gap‐coupled half‐hexagonal radiating patches. A peak gain of 7.07 dBi and measured BW (S₁₁ ≤ ?10 dB) of 11.5% at the center frequency of 5.2 GHz have been achieved, which occupies a small volume of 0.023 λ₀³ including the ground plane. The radiation patterns remain in the broadside direction throughout the return loss BW. Simulated results of the proposed antenna configuration are experimentally validated with good agreement.     

Single‐layer high‐gain flat lens antenna based on the focusing gradient metasurface

A single‐layer transmitting focusing gradient metasurface (F‐GMS) has been proposed that can realize high gain increment at 10 GHz. The unit of F‐GMS is composed of two identical structures placed on the top and bottom of one dielectric layer, which can have high transmitting efficiencies that over 0.8 and achieve [0, 2π] phase range in X‐band. The F‐GMS can convert the spherical waves into plane waves. A patch antenna working at 10 GHz is positioned as the focus of the proposed F‐GMS as the feed source to develop an ultrathin flat lens antenna system. It achieves a simulated gain of 19.6 dBi which is 12.9 dB greater than that of the single patch antenna at 10 GHz. Lastly, the F‐GMS and the patch antenna are manufactured and then measured in an anechoic chamber. A good agreement was demonstrated between experimental and simulated results.     

Uniplanar ACS fed multiband high‐gain antenna with extended rectangular strips for portable system applications

In this article, a compact uniplanar asymmetric coplanar strip (ACS)‐fed multiband antenna with extended rectangular strips is proposed for portable system applications. It is composed of a modified mouse and rectangular‐shaped radiating strip for generating three resonance frequency bands simultaneously. The proposed antenna has a compact size of 16 × 26 × 1.6 mm³. Antenna has |S₁₁| ≤ ?10 dB at three independent controlled bandwidths from 2.2 to 2.4 GHz, 3.5 to 3.7 GHz, and 4.85 to 6.85 GHz. The proposed ACS‐fed antenna is suitable for LTE 2300, WiBro 2300 GHz, 5.2/5.8‐GHz WLAN, 3.5/5.5‐GHz WiMAX, 4.9‐GHz US public safety band, and 5.9‐GHz WAVE applications. The antenna has omnidirectional radiation characteristics in the desired frequency bands in both E‐plane and H‐plane. It has better gain value performance compared with other antenna designs discussed in the literature.     

High gain transmitarray antenna based on ultra‐thin metasurface

This article presents a bandwidth enhanced transmitarray (TA) antenna based on ultra‐thin metasurface (MS) for high gain operating at X‐band. The antenna consists of a three layers continuous flat structure and an aperture coupled microstrip antenna as the feed source. The relative phase shift of 360° is achieved by the unit cell design based on ultra‐thin MS, and the quasi‐spherical wave could be focused as plane wave when the wave goes through TA. The aperture coupled microstrip feed is designed with a bandwidth of 20.6%, and the bandwidth enhanced property of feed source will reduce the negative effect of elements mutual coupling on TA and increase the bandwidth of the TA antenna. The TA antenna gain increases from 8.25 to 18.98 dB and with a side lobe level of ?14.3 dB. Owing to the low‐profile and easy configuration, this kind of TA antenna has great potential, wireless communication.     

A coplanar waveguide‐fed flexible antenna for ultra‐wideband applications

This paper presents a novel ultra‐wideband (UWB) antenna printed on a 70 μm thick flexible substrate. The proposed antenna consists of a hybrid‐shaped patch fed by coplanar waveguide (CPW). The ground planes on opposite sides of the feeding line have different height to improve antenna bandwidth. Simulation shows that the proposed antenna maintain wide bandwidth when changing its substrate's thickness and dielectric constant, as well as bending the antenna on a cylindrical foam. The proposed antenna is fabricated in laboratory with a simple and low‐cost wet printed circuit board (PCB) etching technique. Measured bandwidths cover 3.06 to 13.58, 2.8 to 13.55, and 3.1 to 12.8 GHz in cases of flat state and bent with radii of 20 and 10 mm, respectively. Measured radiation patterns show the antenna is omnidirectional in flat and bent cases.     

Design of a compact dense dielectric patch antenna based on half‐cut technique

In this article, a half‐cut rectangular dense dielectric patch (DDP) with one grounded side plane is theoretically investigated for designing a compact low‐profile antenna. According to the properties and the E‐field distribution of the dominant TM₁₀₁ mode, the half‐wavelength (λ/2) DDP can be bisected by effectively shorting the center plane to the ground, resulting in a miniaturized half‐cut λ/4 DDP. The size of the DDP is effectively reduced by 50% while maintaining the original resonant frequency of the dominant TM₁₀₁ mode. The half‐cut λ/4 DDP can be well excited through aperture coupling for antenna design. The design procedure of the proposed antenna is given in detail. For demonstration, an antenna prototype centered at 4.15 GHz is implemented and measured. The simulated and measured results are given, showing good agreement.     

Low‐profile wideband patch antenna using double‐tuned impedance matching

A low‐profile wideband patch antenna utilizing double‐tuned impedance matching technology is investigated in this paper. To extend the operation bandwidth of the antenna, the step‐folded probe is used here to realize the double‐tuned impedance matching. Using equivalent circuit theory, the working principle of the antenna is analyzed and discussed. The full‐wave simulation is carried out to optimize the design while the prototype of the antenna is fabricated and measured. Good agreement between the simulation and measurement can be observed. The measured results show that the antenna has a height of 0.12λ_L (λ_L is the free space wavelength corresponding to lowest frequency) and the ?10 dB impedance bandwidth can cover 1.60‐2.83 GHz (55.5%). The low profile and wide operation bandwidth of the antenna make it a good candidate for wideband wireless communication systems.     

A low‐profile wideband dual‐polarization patch antenna with antisymmetric feeding network

In this paper, a novel broadband dual‐polarization patch antenna is proposed. Antisymmetric Γ feeding network is applied to excite the radiating patch etched on the upper side of the horizontal substrate, which could minimize the undesired radiation from the probe and extend the impedance bandwidth. For verifying the proposed approach, a prototype is fabricated and measured, the simulated and measured results show the antenna has a wide impedance bandwidth of 48% (1.66‐2.71 GHz) for S11 < ?10 dB, as well as stable radiation gain around 9.5 dBi with low cross‐polarization. In addition, the total height of the antenna is only 0.17 λ₀ ( λ₀ is the free space wavelength of central frequency) and high port‐to‐port isolation is better than 30 dB. The characteristics of the proposed antenna illustrate it can be an indication for a micro base station in the mobile communication system.     

A CPW‐fed band notched wideband circularly polarized ZOR antenna based on CRLH‐TL approach

This article presents design and analysis of three wide band zeroth‐order resonance antennas (antennas I, II, and III) using composite right and left‐handed transmission line (CRLH‐TL) approach. Coplanar waveguide technology, single layer via‐less structures are used to have the design flexibility. The bandwidth characteristics are analyzed by using lumped parameters of CRLH‐TL. By introducing a simple slot in the ground plane of antenna I both bandwidth enhancement and circularly polarization characteristics are achieved in antenna II. Another quarter wave L‐shaped slot has been introduced in the ground plane of antenna II to introduce a notch band in the frequency response of antenna III. Achieved measured 10 dB return loss bandwidth of antenna I and antenna II are 960 (3.3‐4.26 GHz) and 2890 MHz (2.77‐5.66 GHz), respectively. Antenna III offers measured 10 dB return loss bandwidth of 3220 MHz (2.32‐5.54 GHz) with a band notch from 2.39 to 2.99 GHz that isolates the 2.4 GHz WLAN and 3.5 GHz WiMAX band. Antenna II and antenna III have circular polarization property with measured axial ratio bandwidth of 440 MHz. The measured peak realized gain of antennas II and III is around 1.53‐2.9 dBi.