Aperture coupled hybrid dielectric resonator antenna with an EBG back plane

Abstract

A concept for further size reduction of a previously reported compact aperture coupled and cavity-backed hybrid Dielectric Resonator Antenna (hDRA) is presented. The concept proposes use of a back plane made of a high impedance artificial surface to replace the antenna back cavity, which adds about 24 mm to the antenna height. The artificial surface back plane is made of entwining planar quadrifilar spirals that form a compact electromagnetic bandgap structure (EBG) providing a bandgap of about 35%. The back plane is formed of two single sided printed circuit board (PCB) layers. Such back plane reduces the overall antenna height by approximately 21 mm.