Interaction driven artificial magnetic conductor and defected ground structure integrated microstrip antenna for...

Area of Science:

• Electromagnetics and Antenna Engineering
• Wireless Communication Systems
• Materials Science for RF Applications

Background:

• Designing compact, high-gain antennas at 400 MHz presents significant challenges including large size, narrow bandwidth, and low efficiency.
• Subsurface communication systems require specialized antennas capable of operating effectively below ground.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and validate an interaction-driven Artificial Magnetic Conductor-Defected Ground Structure (AMC-DGS) microstrip antenna for enhanced subsurface communication.
• To achieve a compact, dual-band antenna solution with high gain and efficiency at low frequencies.

Main Methods:

• The design leverages electromagnetic interaction between a slot-type DGS, radiating patch, and AMC surface with a spacer layer.
• The DGS is utilized for impedance tuning, polarization purity, and as an active radiator to perturb current distribution.
• Composite Superposed Mode (CSM) excitation and orthogonal slot radiation are employed for performance enhancement.

Main Results:

• A primary operating band is achieved at 400 MHz (379-419 MHz) with 10.2% bandwidth, 6.5 dBi peak gain, and 98% efficiency.
• A secondary band is generated at 700 MHz (700-714 MHz) with 2% bandwidth, 6.1 dBi gain, and 70% efficiency.
• The antenna demonstrates stable broadside radiation characteristics across both bands.

Conclusions:

• The proposed AMC-DGS microstrip antenna offers a compact and efficient dual-band solution for subsurface communication.
• This design is suitable for applications such as Wireless Underground Sensor Networks (WUSN), Internet of Underground Things (IoUT), and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR).
• The interaction-driven design approach effectively overcomes traditional limitations in compact, low-frequency antenna design.