Authors : Zuhair M. Hejazi and Asem S. Al-Zoubi
Abstract: Microstrip patch antennas are very often used in array configurations. A novel corrugated structure of a single microstrip patch is investigated first. Very promising results were achieved. However, the isolation coupling issue, in particular and the antenna performance in general, cannot be verified with a single patch. Thus, in this research, a probe-fed 2-element patch array is investigated in detail using the proposed novel corrugated structures with various shapes and depths to explore the various effects on the isolation coupling in particular, resonant frequency and the gain, without changing the patch separation and consequently, the array size at all but using only the effects of the proposed novel corrugated structures. These effects are also, studied and reflected on the overall performance of such array. A significant reduction of the undesired isolation coupling is achieved with impressive improvements of the cross-polarization levels and somewhat the gain. The novel structures would also provide further miniaturization of the array by shifting down the center frequency with maintaining the same array size. This technique can be applied as a building block for multi-element array in the E-plane and H-plane microstrip patch array arrangements. Full-wave analysis simulations with HFSS and Sonnet commercial softwares are used in the investigations.
Zuhair M. Hejazi and Asem S. Al-Zoubi, 2019. Improved Performance of a Compact 2-Element Microstrip Patch Antenna Array using a Novel Class of Corrugated Structures. Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 14: 8548-8558.