A wideband surface wave antenna utilizing a non-uniform taper-sized periodically loaded ground plane

A broadband surface wave antenna that employs a non-uniform taper-sized periodic metallic array with smaller patch cells at the center of the array loaded artificial magnetic conductor surface used as artificial ground plane is presented. By exciting two adjacent resonant modes of ™ 01 and ™ 02 simultaneously and reducing the ground plane, a broadband impedance bandwidth is achieved. The working mechanism and performance of the antenna are discussed. A 31.3% bandwidth (4.53∼6.22 GHz) in a low profile of 0.08 λ0 is obtained, while the peak gain is 7.6 dBi. The antenna produces a monopole-like radiation pattern, which is suitable for wireless communication system.