Performance enhancement of microstrip antenna using artificial magnetic conductor reflection phase characteristics

Abstract

This paper investigates the behavior of a dipole antenna near the perfect electric conductor, perfect magnetic conductor, and artificial magnetic conductor (AMC). The phase variations due to reflector reflection coefficient and the distance between antenna and reflector are analyzed, and their effect on the antenna radiation patterns are studied for different frequencies. The cause of a null occurrence in the broadside direction of radiation pattern when using the AMC (or HIS) as a reflector is explored. It is shown that this degradation is due to the phase of the reflected waves at different angles from the reflector surface and this phenomenon may occur for any type of reflector. In the next step, a new broadband unit cell is presented. By changing the AMC reflection feature and the distance between the antenna and the ground plane for three different states, the performance of the printed dipole antenna is improved. The maximum gain of the antenna is enhanced by approximately 7 dB, 9 dB, and 9 dB for three different cases of AMC reflectors. Moreover, the 3 dB max-gain bandwidth of the structures are 33.81%, 29.17% and 20.84%, with profile size of 0.16λ, 0.4λ, and 0.4λ, respectively. All cases of the antenna with AMC structures have been fabricated and the measurement results are presented.