Enhancing Antenna Array Performance with Rectangular-Shaped Electromagnetic Band Gap Structures for Mutual Coupling Reduction

In this paper, a rectangular-shaped electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) structure is introduced as a solution to reduce mutual coupling between two closely spaced microstrip patch antennas operating at 5.8 GHz. The proposed EBG structure is specifically designed to suppress the propagation of surface waves on the ground plane, which is the primary cause of mutual coupling. By incorporating a periodic array of rectangular patches between the antenna elements, the proposed approach is able to achieve a substantial reduction in mutual coupling, as confirmed through simulations. The simulation results indicate a remarkable 39 dB reduction in mutual coupling with the implementation of the proposed EBG structure. This improvement is significant when compared to the reference antenna array without the integration of the EBG structure. The proposed EBG structure offers a low-profile, lightweight, and easily integrable solution for mutual coupling reduction in antenna arrays, making it a promising candidate for various wireless communication applications.