Wideband Beam Steering Antenna Array of Printed Cavity-Backed Elements With Integrated EBG Structure

The letter concerns the design of a wideband printed antenna array element based on a cavity-backed patch radiator with an incorporated U-slot. An additional 2 × 3 mushroom-like electromagnetic bandgap structure is introduced in the E-plane in close proximity to the patch element on the same single-layer substrate. The proposed array unit cell design is optimized for operation in the 12% relative bandwidth in C-band and the 80° conical beam steering sector. Both simulated and experimental data demonstrate considerable wideband beam steering performance improvement compared to the basic design (without isolating structure) characteristics, provided by achieved array elements decoupling. Research results predict for the 12% relative bandwidth broadside reflection coefficient magnitude |Γ| ≤ 0.3, and maximum for the 80° conical beam steering sector |Γ| ≤ 0.37.