Abstract
This work presents a novel design of a low-profile broadband circularly polarized (CP) metasurface (MS) antenna based on characteristic mode analysis (CMA) technique for potential use in C-band satellite communications. The proposed antenna is composed of a 4 × 4 array of truncated patch unit cells and incorporates an enhanced slot coupling feeding structure. CMA technique is employed to analyse and modify to improved CP performance. The proposed design exhibits good radiation characteristics including measured − 10 dB impedance bandwidth of 22.72% (4.8–6.05 GHz), a 3 dB axial ratio bandwidth (ARBW) of 16.3% (5.1–5.95 GHz), and a peak gain of 8 dBi within its operational frequency range. Furthermore, the antenna's metasurface design contributes to scattering suppression over a wide frequency span (4–18 GHz), with a notable peak reduction of 9.1 dB at 8 GHz. This characteristic holds potential significance for radar cross-section (RCS) reduction.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).