An inverted F-shaped slotted broadband metasurface-based circularly polarized patch antenna for 5G application

Abstract

This paper presents an inverted F-shaped slotted broadband metasurface (MS)-based circularly polarized (CP) microstrip patch antenna. The host antenna comprises a truncated corner square patch with an inverted F-shaped slot, positioned on a 1.6 mm thick FR-4 substrate backed by ground plane. Concurrently, the MS layer is composed of a 4 × 4 square ring array, constructed on a separate 1.6 mm thick FR-4 substrate with net compact dimensions 0.54λ_o × 0.54λ_o × 0.027λ_o at 5.13 GHz, serving as a superstrate layer. The proposed antenna exhibits impressive performance, including a −10-dB impedance bandwidth from 4.40 GHz to 7.38 GHz as well as a 3-dB axial ratio (AR) bandwidth from 4.74 GHz to 5.52 GHz. Furthermore, at 5.13 GHz, it achieves a notable maximum radiation efficiency and realized gain of 85 % and 6.95 dBic respectively. Moreover, polarization of the antenna is observed as left-handed circularly polarized (LHCP). To validate the impedance response, the antenna’s equivalent circuit model has been sequentially developed, followed by the fabrication of a prototype. The measured results closely resemble with the simulated responses, indicating strong consistency between theory and experimental results. With its overall compact dimension of 0.65λ_o × 0.65λ_o × 0.027λ_o at 5.13 GHz, the proposed CP antenna is well-suited for 5G application.