Simulation of the effects of a ground plane on the radiation characteristics of self-complementary arrays

Self-complementary arrays potentially exhibit a very large bandwidth. However, their bidirectional radiation characteristic limits their range of applications, and the introduction of a ground plane below the array strongly reduces the achievable bandwidth. We have confirmed the latter point using infinite-array MoM simulations. However, we also show that, when the required instantaneous bandwidth is not very large, simple reconfigurations of the array allow it to be operated over a quite large total frequency band. The reconfigurations consist of moving the ground plane and of switching a fraction of the ports of the array. Simulation results show that two bands, of 45% and 25% respectively, made of 10% instantaneous bands, can be opened in these ways.