Design of a Miniature, Low Mutual Coupling, Two-Element Microstrip Array Antenna

To create wideband microstrip patch antennas, use can be made of a thick, grounded substrate. Such a substrate leads to a strong surface wave excitation. By tuning the dimensions of the finite grounded substrate and the patch positions in a two-element array antenna, mutual coupling may be reduced through having direct and reflected surface wave contributions add in anti-phase. A simple geometrical optics formulation proves to lead to satisfactory results that can be easily improved by fine-tuning the substrate dimensions.