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JCM 2026 Vol.21(2): 226-232
Doi: 10.12720/jcm.21.2.226-232

Metamaterial-Inspired Decoupling of MIMO Antennas for Wireless Systems

Md. Emdadul Hoque Bhuiyan1, Md. Mohiuddin Soliman2, Norsuzlin Mohd Sahar3,*, Mohammad Tariqul Islam2,*, and Mohamed Ouda4
1Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea
2Department of Electrical, Electronic and Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi-43600, Selangor, Malaysia
3Space Science Center (ANGKASA), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor 43600, Malaysia
4Department of Telecommunication and Network Engineering, College of Engineering and Technology, University of Doha for Science and Technology, Qatar
Email: mehbhuiyan1@knu.ac.kr (M.E.H.B.); p108446@siswa.ukm.edu.my (M.M.S.); norsuzlin@ukm.edu.my (N.M.S.); tariqul@ukm.edu.my (M.T.I.); mohamed.ouda@udst.edu.qa (M.O.)
*Corresponding author

Manuscript received October 23, 2025; revised November 19, 2025; accepted November 25, 2025; published March 24, 2026.

Abstract—This paper reports an innovative technique aimed at diminishing the mutual interference, technically termed ‘mutual coupling’, between two Microstrip Patch Antenna (MPA) elements. These elements, operating together at 5.8 GHz, are placed in proximity, separated by only 7 mm, which frequency. The core of our investigation revolves around the strategic placement of various metamaterial structures between these two adjacent Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) elements. The study reveals a striking observation: without the incorporation of metamaterial, the mutual coupling coefficient, denoted as |S21|, stands at −21.7744 dB. However, a transformative shift occurs with the introduction of a specific metamaterial composed of five Circular Complementary Split-Ring Resonator (CSRR) unit cells. This configuration results in a significant enhancement, reducing the |S21| parameter from −21.7744 dB to −43.3581 dB. This significant reduction showcases the effectiveness of our approach. Further examination of the proposed MIMO antenna, integrated with the Circular CSRR metamaterial, unveils a suite of impressive characteristics. Notably, it boasts a reflection coefficient (|S11|) maintained below −10 dB, a noteworthy feat in antenna design. Moreover, the antenna demonstrates a superbly high value of diversity gain, quantified at 9.99999, alongside an exceptionally low Envelope Correlatzicient (ECC), recorded at a minuscule 0.000001. These results demonstrate that the proposed MIMO antenna, enhanced with the circular CSRR metamaterial, effectively reduces mutual coupling while maintaining favorable reflection and diversity performance. The design offers improved isolation, low ECC, and high DG, indicating its suitability for compact, high-efficiency MIMO antenna applications in wireless communication systems.


Keywords—Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO), circular CSRR metamaterial, MPA elements, mutual coupling, S-parameters

Cite: Md. Emdadul Hoque Bhuiyan, Md. Mohiuddin Soliman, Norsuzlin Mohd Sahar, Mohammad Tariqul Islam, and Mohamed Oud, “Metamaterial-Inspired Decoupling of MIMO Antennas for Wireless Systems," Journal of Communications, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 226-232, 2026.

Copyright © 2026 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).

 

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