A Low Mutual Coupling Antenna Array with Gain Enhancement Using Metamaterial Loading and Neutralization Line Structure

A MIMO antenna array with high isolation and gain enhancement operating at 5.7 GHz is proposed by using a metamaterial and neutralization line for wireless local area network (WLAN) communication system. A suspended meta-surface consisted of periodic metamaterial cells is installed on the top of the MIMO antenna array to realize a gain enhancement, while the low correlation is implemented by using the neutralization line decoupling structure which is adopted on the feeding lines. The proposed MIMO array is modeled in the HFSS, and it is well analyzed, optimized, fabricated, and measured to discuss its performance. The obtained results demonstrate that the proposed MIMO antenna array can cover the upper WLAN band with a gain enhancement of 3dB and mutual decoupling of 30dB in the operating band with an efficiency of 68%.