Compact and broadband metamaterial-based array antenna

This paper presents the design of an array antenna composed of two metamaterial-based thin monopole-like elements placed on either side of a composite material, on the tail of an airplane. A 0.022 sub-wavelength dual-layer electromagnetic bandgap (DL-EBG) is used as an in-phase reflector plane. It is composed of offset mushroom-like Sivenpiper EBG arrays. This topology allows controlling both operating frequency and bandwidth. For a total height of 0.028 wavelengths, the antenna achieves 8.5 dB of gain and 24% of bandwidth around 1.4 GHz. The array antenna has a vertical polarization and omnidirectional radiation. The measurements and numerical simulations agree well.