Abstract:This paper presents a compact strip-type soft surface structure, designed by introducing an aperture ring onto the foundation of the classical strip-type soft surface. Through guided wave transmission simulations, the capability of the soft surface to suppress surface waves is assessed. By analyzing the S-parameters and surface currents before and after incorporating the aperture ring, it is demonstrated that the designed soft surface in this study exhibits superior suppression capability against surface waves. Furthermore, simulations indicate the potential for electromagnetic transmission suppression at lower frequency bands, achieving structural miniaturization. When applied between microstrip antennas, the proposed soft surface can effectively suppress coupling between them. The novel miniaturized soft surface, featuring an added aperture ring on the basis of the classical strip-type soft surface, is highly symmetrical in structure with a low profile. This structure reduces the coupling between two microstrip antennas by more than 7 dB within the operating bandwidth, effectively suppressing the propagation of surface waves between the microstrip antennas and achieving decoupling effects.