Metamaterial-Based Compact Antenna with Defected Ground Structure for 5G and Beyond

In this paper, a unit cell of a single-negative metamaterial structure loaded with a meander line and defected ground structure (DGS) is investigated as the principle radiating element of an antenna. The unit cell antenna causes even or odd mode resonances similar to the unit cell structure depending on the orientation of the microstrip feed used to excite the unit cell. However, the orientation which gives low-frequency resonance is considered here. The unit cell antenna is then loaded with a meander line which is parallel to the split bearing side and connects the other two sides orthogonal to the split bearing side. This modified structure excites another mode of resonance at high frequency when a meander line defect is loaded on the metallic ground plane. Specific parameters of the meander line structure, the DGS shape, and the unit cell are optimized to place these two resonances at different frequencies with proper frequency intervals to enhance the bandwidth. Finally, the feed is placed in an offset position for better impedance matching without affecting the bandwidth The compact dimension of the antenna is 0.25 λL × 0.23 λL × 0.02 λL, where λL is the free space wavelength with respect to the center frequency of the impedance bandwidth. The proposed antenna is fabricated and measured. Experimental results reveal that the modified design gives monopole like radiation patterns which achieves a fractional operating bandwidth of 26.6%, from 3.26 to 4.26 GHz for |S11|<−10 dB and a pick gain of 1.26 dBi is realized. In addition, the simulated and measured cross-polarization levels are both less than −15 dB in the horizontal plane.