Single-Layer, Dual-Port, Dual-Band, and Orthogonal-Circularly Polarized Microstrip Antenna Array with Low Frequency Ratio

Abstract

A single-layer, dual-port, dual-band, and dual circularly polarized (CP) microstrip array is designed for satellite communication in this paper. The operating frequencies are 8.2 and 8.6 GHz with a very low ratio of 1.05. First, a rectangular patch element is fed through microstrip lines at two orthogonal edges to excite two orthogonal dominant modes of TM01 and TM10. The very low frequency ratio can be realized with high polarization isolations. Then, a 2-by-2 dual-band dual-CP subarray is constructed by two independent sets of sequentially rotated (SR) feed structures. An 8-by-8 array is designed on the single-layer thin substrate. Finally, by utilizing one-to-four power dividers and semirigid coaxial cables, a 16-by-16 array is developed to achieve higher gain. Measured results show that the 16-by-16 array has 15 dB return loss (RL) bandwidths of 4.81% and 6.75% and 3 dB axial ratio (AR) bandwidths of 2.84% and 1.57% in the lower and the upper bands, respectively. Isolations of 18.6 dB and 19.4 dB and peak gains of 25.1 dBic and 25.6 dBic are obtained at 8.2 and 8.6 GHz, respectively.