In this study, a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna for wide scanning is designed. By adding slits to the patches, each element is intended to strengthen the isolation between the radiating elements. The proposed high isolation and wide scanning antenna combine to achieve the desired phased-array antenna. The array has a main beam pointing to the desired scanning region and a minimum side lobe level (SLL) in the undesired direction. A compact and linear eight-element array with an interelement spacing of λ/2 is designed and analyzed for beam scanning in the E-plane. Considering the worst case, the proposed array has a very low mutual coupling of (S21 = -24 dB), and it realizes a gain of 9.3 dBi and an SLL of 11 dB at a scanning angle of 70∘. The antenna performance was studied in terms of the S-parameter, radiation patterns, beam-scanning performance, envelope correlation coefficient (ECC), diversity gain (DG), peak gain, and efficiency. A close agreement was observed between the simulated and measured results.
Keywords: MIMO antenna; SLL; diversity gain; envelope correlation coefficient; phased array antenna.