An all‐metal wideband circularly polarized single‐patch antenna based on TM11 mode

Abstract

AbstractThis paper proposes an all‐metal wideband circularly polarized (CP) single‐patch antenna based on TM11 mode. The conventional square patch is divided into four small square patch units by loading metal shorting walls under the two vertical centerlines. The shorting walls are windowed to facilitate coupling between the adjacent units. When the TM11 mode is excited, the coupling windows not only distribute energy but also provide the 90° phase difference required for CP radiation. An additional feeding network is not required, and its profile is less than 0.05λ0 (λ0 is the free space wavelength at the center frequency). Three minima in the axial ratio (AR) response are present. The results show that right‐hand circularly polarized (RHCP) radiation is achieved. The measured 3 dB AR bandwidth is 6.9%, ranging from 1.52 to 1.62 GHz, and the RHCP realized peak gain is 7.72 dBic. An all‐metal construction suitable for satellite communication systems is designed that has superior performance in harsh space environments.