Periodic array of complementary artificial magnetic conductor metamaterials‐based multiband antennas for broadband wireless transceivers

This study presents the empirical results of a low‐profile light‐weight antenna based on a periodic array of the complementary artificial magnetic conductor metamaterial structure, which is realised by loading the antenna with E‐shaped slits and inductive microstrip lines grounded using metallic via‐holes. The finalised prototype antenna operates over a broadband of 0.41–4.1 GHz, which corresponds to a fractional bandwidth of 165.84%, and has dimensions of 40 × 35 × 1.6 mm 3 or 0.054 λ 0 × 0.047 λ 0 × 0.0021 λ 0 , where λ 0 is free‐space wavelength at operating frequency of 410 MHz. The finalised antenna has a peak gain and radiation efficiency of 4.45 dBi and 85.8%, respectively, at 2.76 GHz. At the lower operating frequency of 410 MHz, the gain and radiation efficiency are 1.05 dBi and 32.5%, respectively, which is normally highly challenging to realise with very small antennas. The planar nature of antenna enables easy integration with wireless transceivers.