High gain metamaterial-based 3D cross-shaped THz 16-port massive MIMO antenna array for future wireless network

This study introduces a novel, non-planar 16-port massive Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) antenna system that has been designed for six-generation (6G) THz future applications. On a cross-shaped of a 100 um thick Polyimide substrate, the proposed MIMO elements are positioned strategically to encompass a wide frequency band of 61.54%. A compact near-zero indexes and epsilon-negative metamaterial unite cell is designed and implemented to increase the isolation, gain and the overall antenna performance. The metamaterial elements are located on both top and bottom layers of the substrate, achieving an isolation of greater than 24 dB for antenna elements on the same side of the cross-shaped substrate. Besides the antenna’s isolation enhancement, the gain and efficiency improved to a maximum of 13.2 dBi and 92%, respectively. In addition, extensive simulations demonstrate that MIMO performance parameters, such as Diversity gain ≈ 10 dB, Envelope correlation coefficient ≤ 0.001, Total Active Reflection Coefficient ≤ −15 dB and Channel Capacity Loss (0.4 bits/s/Hz are favorable. The proposed non-planar 3D massive MIMO antenna system has tremendous potential for the sixth generation’s THz wireless communication applications.