Performance Analysis of Maple-Shaped Monopole Multiband Antenna on Various Substrate Materials

Abstract

ABSTRACT The interest for small-size wireless systems has been expanding for quite a few years and this has been made possible by adapting miniaturized antennas with a wide range of performance. Nature-inspired microstrip patch antennas are one of the best solutions to meet the demand for multiband frequencies. A maple-shaped monopole antenna is designed with multiband characteristics and the performance analysis on various substrate materials is carried out. The antenna works over the frequency bands of 3.19 GHz–4 GHz (S-band), 4 GHz–7–17 GHz (C-band), 8.09 GHz–12 GHz (X-band), and 12 GHz–13.81 GHz (Ku-band). The antenna design is simulated using HFSS and obtained the results of return loss, VSWR, gain, and bandwidth. A maximum operating bandwidth of 10.62 GHz and gain of 6.78 dB is achieved with benzocyclobuten as a dielectric substrate and maximum return loss of −57 dB at 8.9 GHz frequency when FR4 epoxy is used. The antenna prototype was made with low-cost FR4 epoxy as a substrate material and tested over the frequency range of 4.27 GHz–14.52 GHz to verify the proposed design. The proposed multiband antenna is suitable for applications in radio altimeters, RADAR, and satellite communications.