Effect of Rectangular Microstrip Antenna with Cross Metal Patches Based on Near-Zero-Index

In this paper, cross metal patches are inserted inside the conventional rectangular microstrip antenna, and thus it can work at two frequencies. The finite difference time domain (FDTD) method is selected to study effect of this left-handed metamaterial with near-zero-index of refraction. Compared with conventional rectangular microstrip antenna, effect of near-zero-index from positive and negative on conventional rectangular microstrip antenna are studied. Simulation results show this antenna works at two frequencies. Compared with conventional microstrip antenna, near-zero-index can improve antenna’s gain obviously.