Wideband and wide beamwidth L-probe patch antenna array with a novel ground plane for backlobe reduction

A wide bandwidth and wide beamwidth L-probe-fed patch antenna with a novel ground plane is proposed and experimentally studied. The proposed antenna has an air substrate of thickness 0.1 /spl lambda//sub o/, where 0.1 /spl lambda//sub o/ is the free-space wavelength at the design frequency. By placing the two flanges of the U-shaped ground plane with cutting slots in parallel direction, a wide impedance bandwidth (>20%. SWR< 1.5) and a H-plane beamwidth of 100 degrees with much reduced backlobe radiation can be obtained, compared to the case with a planar ground plane with 4 sidewalls. Details of the proposed antenna and experimental results are presented and discussed.