Radiation performance improvement of wideband microstrip antenna array using wideband AMC structure

• Published in: International journal of communication systems 2019-07, Vol.32 (11), p.n/a
• Main Authors: Simruni, Mojtaba, Jam, Shahrokh
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antenna arrays; Antennas; artificial magnetic conductor; Bandwidths; Beam steering; Broadband; Computer simulation; Conductors; Cross polarization; Design parameters; Electronic warfare; Low level; metamaterial; Microstrip antennas; microstrip phase array antenna; Parameter identification; radiation performance; Reflectance; Reflection; Size reduction
• ISSN: 1074-5351; 1099-1131
• DOI: 10.1002/dac.3962

Summary In this paper, the radiation performance of an antenna array is improved by designing a new wideband artificial magnetic conductor (AMC). The proposed AMC surface operates at the frequency of 3 GHz with ±90° reflection phase bandwidth of 22%. In order to identify the key design parameters of the AMC structure, a parametric study is performed. To improve the radiation performance of the antenna array, an AMC reflector is developed through utilizing an array of 2 × 8 periodic patches of AMC unit cells. By this technique, the front to back ratio of the designed antenna array is enhanced about 16.27 dB. It is concluded that tuning of the AMC dimensions for controlling the reflection coefficient at each port of antenna array during beam steering is necessary. Because of the using of the AMC surfaces as a reflector instead of conventional PEC surfaces, size reduction of the antenna array in the order of 20% is achieved. In this study, a circuit model for single element of the antenna array with considering AMC loading effect is introduced, which predicts the bandwidth behaviour of the proposed antenna. The final designed antenna array exhibits low level of cross polarization making it well‐suited for tracking radars and electronic warfare applications. The proposed antenna with the AMC reflector is fabricated and measured. The measured −10 dB impedance bandwidth and peak gain of the proposed antenna is 20% (2.7‐3.25 GHz) and 13.4 dBi, respectively, which are compatible with the simulation results. In this study, the radiation performance of an antenna array is improved by designing a new wideband artificial magnetic conductor (AMC) with bandwidth of 22%. By this technique, the front to back ratio of antenna array is enhanced about 16.27 dB. Furthermore, a circuit model for single element of the antenna array with considering AMC loading effect is introduced. The measured impedance bandwidth and peak gain of the proposed antenna is 20% and 13.4 dBi, respectively.