Bandwidth enhancement of microstrip patch antenna using ‘U’ slot with modified ground plane

For overcoming the limitation on Bandwidth of a general Microstrip antenna, work on U-shaped patch antenna with two equal arms on FR4 epoxy substrate is presented. A U-shaped slot is introduced on the square shaped ground plane just under the U-shaped patch. In this communication the effect of size and shape of the ground plane on impedance bandwidth is studied. Maximum impedance bandwidth of 13% (5.1-5.8 GHz) is obtained with introduction of U-shaped slot on the square shaped ground plane. The Voltage Standing Wave Ratio of the antenna at desire frequency is found to be 1.2. The results from simulations are confirmed with Vector Network Analyser. The proposed antenna is simple in structure & smaller in size as compared to the regular stacked or coplanar parasitic patch antennas. The proposed antenna gives high gain & wideband, with simple & compact structure. It is highly suitable for wireless communications.