Rectangular patch antennas over electromagnetic band gap structures

In this paper, I propose a new design of a defected structure (DS) for use as an electromagnetic band gap (EBG) configuration to enhance the performance of low profile microstrip antennas. The proposed defected structure embodies a honeycomb lattice of cylindrical air holes. The proposed DS is applied to three different configurations using a dielectric substrate (dielectric constant 6 and thickness 1.5 mm); namely: a dielectric substrate backed by a defected ground plane, a defected dielectric substrate backed by a normal substrate and a defected dielectric substrate backed by a defected ground plane. The simulated values of the transmission coefficient S ₂₁ for the last one show two well-defined stop bands around 8.5 and 9.5 GHz, respectively. The first band has been used to reduce mutual coupling in a microstrip array. On the other hand, the stop band defined around 9.5 GHz has been applied to enhance the characteristics of a rectangular patch antenna and improve the operational 10-dB bandwidth.