A wideband microstrip patch antenna, exciting the fundamental transverse electric (TE) mode, is investigated. The excitation of the TE mode is facilitated through replacing both of the patch and ground plane of a conventional microstrip antenna with artificial magnetic conductors (AMC), consisting of unipolar compact photonic bandgap (UC-PBG) unit cells. The AMC patch and the ground plane of this antenna behave as magnetic conductors within the bandgap region of the unit cells. Similar to conventional patch antennas, it is shown that by cutting a U-shaped slot in the AMC patch, wideband characteristics are realized. The antenna shows a 40% impedance bandwidth and operates at the TE10 mode. Moreover, the width of the patch is 1.75 times smaller than its length, reducing the overall size of the antenna by about 60%, compared with the conventional U-slot PEC antenna supporting the transverse magnetic (TM) mode.
Broadband Artificial Magnetic Conductors Constructed of Magnetically Coupled Elements
