Novel stacked μ-negative material-loaded antenna for satellite applications

Abstract

An engineered novel tunable dual-band metamaterial antenna based on stacked split ring resonator (SRR) array is presented. The μ-negative SRR array present at two sublayers of stacked microstrip patch antenna substrate adds tuning capability to the antenna with marginal trade-off between antenna gain and cross-polarization. If the size of resonator element is considerably smaller than resonance wavelength, ideally lesser than λ/10, the resonator would support the resonating mode of antenna. Compact SRR array embedded in radiator facilitate the antenna tuning to intended allocated spectrum of L5- and S-band frequencies without modifying external dimensions of patch antenna, which in turn helps the satellite payload design. The variations in SRR array dimensions and inter-element spacing are subsequently utilized to maintain the antenna gain and voltage-standing wave ratio. The proposed design of inset fed antenna, matched at 50 Ω, was validated by experimental results and it is suitable for global positioning satellite applications.