A wire inverted F antenna on a finite-sized EBG material

A wire inverted F antenna (WIFA) is a simple, lightweight, low-cost radiation element for radiating a linearly polarized wave. This paper deals with a WIFA above a finite-sized surface, where an electromagnetic band-gap (EBG) material backs the WIFA. This antenna is referred to as the EBG-WIFA. The radiation characteristics are compared with those of a WIFA above a finite-sized perfect electric conductor (PEC-WIFA). First, the effects of the finite-sized PEC plane on the antenna characteristics are analyzed using the FDTD method. Second, the finite-sized PEC plane is replaced with an EBG material. The EBG material in this paper is composed of numerous patches that are mushroom-shaped. It is revealed that the EBG-WIFA and PEC-WIFA exhibit different radiation characteristics. The EBG-WIFA forms a tilted radiation pattern, similar to that for a bent monopole above an EBG material. In addition, this paper presents the frequency response of a representative EBG-WIFA forming a tilted beam.