A Planar, Differential, and Directive Ultrawideband Antenna

A novel planar differential ultrawideband antenna is described and both numerically and experimentally characterized. The proposed antenna is formed by two disc monopoles fed by 50-Ohm microstrip lines with a structured ground plane. Simulations and measurements demonstrate that it is possible to achieve a huge increase in directionality with respect to conventional monopoles by carefully engineering the ground plane and by exploiting the array effect.