High‐gain omnidirectional patch antenna for conformal application based on near‐zero‐index metamaterials

Abstract

Abstract Achieving a high‐gain omnidirectional patch antenna with low profile is a challenging task. On the basis of improving antennas by metamaterials, a broadband near‐zero‐index metamaterial (NZIM) is designed to enhance the horizontal gain of the omnidirectional patch antenna. The zero‐index metamaterial is loaded on the substrate of three antennas with different working bands (4.99–5.50 GHz). The results show that the horizontal gain of antennas is enhanced by more than 0.6 dB at various frequencies. The roundness of antennas is also optimised. Therefore, using NZIM can increase the horizontal gain with a low profile (λ/30) structure size. The low profile, high‐gain omnidirectional patch antenna has great potential in the conformal field.

Keywords

• antenna radiation patterns
• microstrip antennas
• microwave antennas
• UHF antennas
• metamaterial antennas
• microwave metamaterials