volume | PIER Journals

Abstract

This paper presents a wideband circularly polarized (CP) antenna featuring a significantly enhanced front-to-back ratio (FBR). The proposed design employs a composite structure that integrates a dipole with a loop resonator and is fabricated using a multilayer architecture. The top layer is a dielectric substrate loaded with a cyclic zigzag patch. The middle layer contains an L-shaped radiating patch with etched rectangular grooves, and the bottom layer comprises a metal ground plane and surrounding vertically tilted-slot fences. Circular polarization is achieved by exciting orthogonal degenerate modes via strategic rectangular-groove perturbations that work in concert with the loop resonator's inherent asymmetric current path. The tilted-slot fences, in conjunction with the zigzag patch layer, function collectively to suppress backward radiation and improve the FBR. Measured results demonstrate that the antenna achieves a 3 dB axial ratio (AR) bandwidth of 54% from 2.45 to 4.3 GHz, a stable FBR of more than 27.5 dB with 2.5 dB variation, and a peak gain of 9.3 dBic. This design offers a high-performance, planar antenna solution well-suited for satellite communication and radar systems.

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Dr. Bei-Wen Lin

Dr. Tian-Yuan Gao

Professor Rui Wu