A novel surface wave antenna with a monopole type pattern: a thin periodically loaded slab excited by a circular disk

A microstrip patch feed surface wave antenna is introduced to obtain monopole type radiation patterns with an attractive low profile configuration. A prototype of the surface wave antenna was fabricated and tested. The antenna resonated at 4.72 GHz with a 5.9% impedance bandwidth. The low profile configuration and omnidirectional patterns of the surface wave antenna are desirable features for many wireless communication systems, such as satellite radio receivers. Both the computed and measured radiation performance are presented.