Anisha Susan Thomas, Prof. A K Prakash
Microstrip patch antennas are used for mobile phone applications due to their small size, low cost, ease of production etc. The MSA has proved to be an excellent radiator for many applications because of its several advantages, but it also has some disadvantages. Lower gain and narrow bandwidth are the major drawbacks of a patch antenna. In this paper, a survey on the existing solutions for the same which are developed through several years and an evolving technology metamaterial is presented. Metamaterials are artificial materials characterized by parameters generally not found in nature, but can be engineered. They differ from other materials due to the property of having negative permeability as well as permittivity. Metamaterial structure consists of Split Ring Resonators (SRRs) to produce negative permeability and thin wire elements to generate negative permittivity. Performance parameters especially bandwidth, of patch antennas which are usually considered as narrowband antennas can be improved using metamaterial. Metamaterials are also the basis of further miniaturization of microwave antennas.