A Low-Coupling Broadband MIMO Array Antenna Design for Ku-Band Based on Metamaterials

In response to the demand for broadband antennas in 5G mobile communications, this paper proposes a compact broadband multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna array. By chamfering a radiation patch and adding parasitic patches, the antenna is miniaturized while also expanding its bandwidth. The mutual coupling between the two antenna elements is reduced by loading a double-layer metamaterial decoupling structure above the elements which consists of an open resonating ring and a square ring. The antenna is simulated and measured using the three-dimensional electromagnetic simulation software HFSS and a vector network analyzer. The results show that the proposed antenna has a good radiation performance of S11 < -10 dB in the operating band of 12.11–13.99 GHz (relative bandwidth of 14.41%). Furthermore, the isolation of the proposed MIMO antenna array in the operating band is improved by more than -18.8 dB on loading the metameterial structure, indicating that the array antenna is suitable for use in the Ku-band.