A Low-Profile Printed Planar Phase Correcting Surface to Improve Directive Radiation Characteristics of Electromagnetic Band Gap Resonator Antennas

This communication presents a method to enhance the radiation performance of conventional electromagnetic band gap resonator antennas (ERAs) by improving their aperture phase distributions. A low-profile printed planar phase correcting surface (PCS) was designed and fabricated to demonstrate performance enhancement. Measurements of a prototype demonstrated that the PCS significantly enhances the directive radiation properties of ERAs. This includes an 8 dB increase in peak directivity, 60% reduction in 3 dB beamwidth (from 35° to 14°), and a considerable reduction in side lobe levels.