Low profile, directive and ultra wideband antenna on a high impedance surface

This paper describes a directive and ultra wideband antenna with a thickness of lambda/20 at the lowest operating frequency. The low profile of the antenna is obtained by using a high impedance surface (HIS). In this article we explain the design of the antenna and of the high impedance surface, and then we describe how we optimize the radiating structure with the HIS. Radiation patterns are controlled by setting astutely resistive loads on the high impedance surface. This antenna operates from 3.2 GHz to 5 GHz with a broadside gain varying from 3.3dB to 9.35 dB. It can be used for UWB applications in European regulation context.