A miniaturized design of Vicsek snowflake-box fractal microstrip patch antenna using defective ground structure for wireless applications

Abstract

In this paper, miniaturization of fractal geometry with defected ground structure (DGC) concept has been experimentally verified at S-band (2–4) GHz. The design starts with a self-symmetry structure using conventional Vicsek snowflake-box fractal antenna. The same has been used in third iteration to achieve miniaturization. This proposed microstrip patch antenna (MPA) is resonating at 2.12 GHz with acceptable gain and broadside radiation. The miniaturization of about 87.26% when compared to conventional fractal MPA is achieved. The fractal unit cell is optimized for miniaturization and bandwidth by carrying out parametric study and applying the DGS shapes like rectangular and U-shaped slot etched in the ground plane of Vicsek snowflake-box fractal microstrip antenna. A fractal microstrip antenna is designed for wireless applications at 3.95 GHz. The fractal microstrip antenna is simulated using HFSS-V15 simulator. It is observed that the maximum size reduction of 87.26% is achieved in the third iteration of the Vicsek snowflake-box fractal radiating patch. The proposed fractal patch antenna is designed and fabricated using epoxy substrate of FR-4 with dielectric constant of 4.4 and thickness of 1.6 mm. The simulated results are compared with the measured results.