Exploitation of the UC-PBG structure as ground plane to enhance microstrip antenna bandwidth

The uniplanar compact photonic bandgap (UC-PBG) metamaterial structure has been profitably used for antenna miniaturization and radiation enhancement purposes. This paper presents an additional way to exploit it, when it is employed as ground plane for microstrip antennas. As a matter of fact, if a proper number of UC-PBG unit cells is selected, the antenna bandwidth can be remarkably increased. Such a behavior is here presented in dealing with a classical square patch antenna.