The suppression of undesired surface waves on a reference array antenna resorting to a low-cost wide-band EBG surface is investigated experimentally through measurements of embedded element radiation patterns. An EBG frame around the array aperture is used to reduce back and side radiation while narrow EBG strips are placed in-between columns or rows of antenna elements to mitigate blind spots. Measurement results indicate the effectiveness of the proposed method even though the EBG surfaces are not monolithically integrated with the array aperture. At first glance, this seems to be a disadvantage but it makes the approach also suitable for retrofitting existing systems.
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