Comparison of Gain Increase in Spoof Surface Plasmon Polaritons Antennas with PEC and AMC Grounds

Recent studies propose replacing perfect electric conductor (PEC) grounds with artificial magnetic conductor (AMC) grounds to achieve a lower profile and better performance. This paper studies and compares the increase in radiation gain and performance of a wideband spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SSPP) Ku- band satellite reception leaky wave planar antenna (LWPA), with four different PEC and AMC ground structures. All ground structures are simulated, optimized and compared by CST Studio software over the wide Ku frequency band of ۱۰.۷ GHz to ۱۲.۷۵ GHz. Unlike earlier narrowband, low-frequency studies that showed equal gain for PEC and AMC grounds (with AMC providing a lower profile), our study demonstrates that the PEC ground offers twice the increased gain bandwidth (۲.۰۵ GHz vs. ۱.۰۵ GHz) and the trade-off for a lower profile with an AMC ground is steep, requiring a ۵۰% bandwidth reduction for just a ۱۶.۷۴% size decrease. Therefore, PEC ground is a better choice for the studied antenna and frequency band. SSPP KU-band LWPAS are finding wide applications in ۵G, ۶G, geostationary (GSO) and none- geostationary (NGSO) satellite communications and optimized selection of the ground type can have a great impact on the overall final characteristics of the antenna.