Analysis and design of a high-gain antenna based on a metallic crystal

Abstract—In this paper, a new high-gain antenna made from a monopole embedded in a crystal, also called Electromagnetic Bandgap (EBG) material, with metallic wires and without defect is described. To design the antenna, a model is proposed, using the crystal as a Fabry-Perot cavity constructed of multiple Partially Reflecting Surfaces (PRSs). Frequency and pattern responses of the EBG structure excited by electromagnetic waves from its interior are used to analyze the antenna performance. To validate the proposed approach, numerical simulations using the Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) method were carried out, and an antenna prototype was fabricated and tested. The radiation patterns obtained from measurements and simulations show an excellent directivity performance and give a good agreement between measured, simulated and predicted results. With the proposed design, a more than 19 dBi gain is achieved across the matching band