Electromagnetic band gap (EBG) structures that are engineered to achieve desired transmission and reflection characteristics in specific frequency bands, have long been actively studied in the microwave regime for a wide variety of applications. They have also been used as superstrates for directivity enhancement of antennas as well as substrates for height reduction of conformal antennas.
In this study we develop some guidelines for systematically designing high directivity antenna systems, comprising of a microstrip patch antenna (MPA) covered by a planar EBG superstrate. This method is based on a series of investigations that correlate the receive and transmit mode properties of the composite system.
Some techniques for further embellishing the performance characteristics of the MPA are also discussed.
