Gain Enhancement of Dielectric Resonator Antenna Using Electromagnetic Bandgap Structure

High gain antennas are highly desirable for long-range wireless communication systems. In this paper, a compact, low profile, and high gain dielectric resonator antenna is proposed, fabricated, experimentally tested, and verified. The proposed antenna system has a cylindrical dielectric resonator antenna with a height of 9 mm and a radius of 6.35 mm as a radiating element. The proposed dielectric resonator antenna is sourced with a slot while the slot is excited with a rectangular microstrip transmission line. The microstrip transmission line is designed for a 50 Ω impedance to provide maximum power to the slot. As a result, the proposed antenna operates at 5.15 GHz with a 10-dB absolute bandwidth of 430 MHz (4.98 – 5.41 GHz). It is important to mention that the gain of the dielectric resonator antenna is enhanced by the introduction of an electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) structure. In fact, EBG units are placed below the antenna, which enhances the realized peak gain from 5.32 dBi to 8.36 dBi at 5.15 GHz. More specifically, a gain enhancement of 3.04 dB is observed with the introduction of the EBG array. This antenna has several good features such as high gain, compact size, large bandwidth, and lower losses which make it a suitable choice for long-range wireless communication systems.