Abstract
A new modified planar dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) is presented and investigated. The proposed DRA is excited by a microstrip feed that is extended as a probe in the proximity of the DR. On the opposite side to the probe excitation printed narrow strips directly connected to the ground plane edge are used to improve the radiation characteristics of the antenna by keeping a unidirectional broadside radiation. In addition, the short circuit strips introduce a second frequency band. Thus, a dual-band antenna is achieved. The measured bandwidths are about 73% (2.78-5.95 GHz) for the wideband DRA as well as 8% (2.4-2.6 GHz) and 56% (3.3-5.85 GHz) for the dual-band DRA. The minimum and maximum gain enhancements of about 0.6 and 1.2 dB from 3.5 to 6 GHz are obtained. Parametric study and measurement results are presented and discussed. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.