volume | PIER Journals

Abstract

A compact wideband antenna suitable for RF energy harvesting applications is presented in this paper. The proposed antenna consists of a slotted rectangular radiating patch excited by a coplanar waveguide (CPW) feed and implemented on an FR4 substrate with overall dimensions of 40 × 40 × 1.6 mm³. A wide impedance bandwidth is achieved through the combined use of a hybrid hexagonal defective ground structure (DGS) and multi-slot loading of the radiating patch, where the patch is embedded within the slotted ground plane to achieve size reduction and enhanced impedance matching. The antenna exhibits a measured impedance bandwidth of 3.61 GHz (|S₁₁| ≤ -10 dB) ranging from 2.18 GHz to 5.79 GHz, covering the Wi-Fi and sub-6 GHz 5G frequency bands. Stable radiation characteristics are observed across the operating band, with a figure-of-eight radiation pattern, a peak gain of 3.67 dB at 3 GHz, and a minimum gain of 2.73 dB at 5 GHz. The antenna exhibits radiation efficiency greater than 95% throughout the operating band, with a maximum value approaching 98%. The antenna is designed and optimized using ANSYS HFSS and experimentally validated through Vector Network Analyzer and anechoic chamber measurements, showing good agreement between simulated and measured results. Owing to its wide bandwidth, compact size, and stable radiation performance, the proposed antenna is well-suited for wideband RF energy harvesting, with future integration into a rectenna system.

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Ms. Vijetha Rajappa

Dr. Kadsur Mudalagiriyappa Sudharshan

Dr. Sandeep Kumar Amera