Ultra-wideband and low-profile hybrid EBG/ferrite ground plane for airborne foliage penetrating radar

High performance airborne foliage penetrating radar requires an antenna design that is low-profile while providing ultra-wideband operation at lower frequencies (100s of MHz) while optimally offering unidirectional radiation. To achieve the desired unidirectional radiation, a ground plane must be implemented that can match the ultra-wideband operation of the antenna being implemented. The needed ground plane must meet these specifications while being low-profile to maintain an overall low-profile antenna design that will efficiently fit in the aircraft. This paper presents a novel ultra-wideband and low-profile hybrid ground plane design that implements ferrite absorbing material with a mushroom structure EBG design. The presented EBG/ferrite hybrid design offers an operational bandwidth exceeding 12:1 starting at 170 MHz