Defected Ground Structure Integrated Microstrip Array Antenna for Improved Radiation Properties

Defected ground structure (DGS) integrated microstrip array has been explored and demonstrated here for the first time with the primary aim of achieving improved polarization purity. A shaped DGS with variable configuration has been conceived and designed for rectangular arrays. This unleashes new potential of DGS design by reducing the etched out area by 50%. A 2 × 2 DGS integrated array has been designed and experimentally demonstrated in X-band showing 12 dB improvement in the isolation between the copol and cross-pol radiations.