Wideband Artificial Magnetic Conductors Loaded With Non-Foster Negative Inductors

We examine how the bandwidth of artificial magnetic conductors (AMCs) can be greatly increased when loaded with negative-inductance non-Foster circuits. This increase in bandwidth is achieved by enhancing the structural inductance of the AMC by combining it in parallel with a negative inductance, thus achieving a bandwidth that exceeds what is possible with passive approaches. A prototype VHF-UHF active AMC was fabricated and measured, which achieved a bandwidth greater than 80% at a resonant frequency of 263 MHz.