1040 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 48, NO.

7, JULY 2000

Single-Feed Circularly Polarized Microstrip Ring

Antenna and Arrays
Raul R. Ramirez, Student Member, IEEE, Franco De Flaviis, and Nicolaos G. Alexopoulos, Fellow, IEEE

AbstractAn analysis is presented for a microstrip-feed prox- This paper introduces a novel design of a single-feed antenna
imity-coupled ring antenna and a four-element array. Interactions system; namely a ring antenna with two inner stubs fed by prox-
between the embedded microstrip feed and the radiating ele- imity coupling from an embedded microstrip line. There are two
ment(s) are rigorously included. Results demonstrate that circular
polarization of both senses can be achieved with a ring antenna particularadvantagesoftheproposeddesign.First,thenoncontact
with proper design of two inner stubs located at angles of 45 feeding mechanism reduces the complexity of probe feeding [4].
with respect to the feedline. Theory and experiment demonstrate Second, the radiation efficiency is increased compared to prox-
an axial ratio 3-dB bandwidth of 1% and the voltage standing imity coupling by stripline [5]. We first present an analysis of a
wave ratio (VSWR) 2 bandwidth of 6.1%. The axial ratio single element. Experimental data is included and compared to
bandwidth is typical for a microstrip antenna with perturbations,
while the VSWR bandwidth is larger than for the circular or theory. Second, we study the mutual coupling between two ele-
rectangular patch with perturbations. A mutual coupling study ments to determine the effects on the axial ratio. From this infor-
between two elements shows that the axial ratio is less than 2 mation we design a 2 2 element array and present experimental
dB for interelement spacing greater than 0.55 e , while the data. We then demonstrate how the array performance can be im-
VSWR 2 for all spacings considered. A comparison between proved with respect to boresight axial ratio and voltage standing
theory and experiment is provided for a 2 2 element array.
The benefits of sequentially rotating the antenna elements in an wave ratio (VSWR) bandwidth by sequentially rotating the indi-
array environment are presented. The axial ratio and VSWR vidual antenna elements. Finally, a single-element antenna with
bandwidths are both increased to 6.1% and 18% for a four-ele- two independent orthogonal feeds to provide dual circular polar-
ment array. A single-element antenna with two orthogonal feeds ization is investigated. Dual circular polarization is defined as the
to provide both senses of polarization is demonstrated. The ring ability of the antenna to receive/transmit both senses of polariza-
antenna is small ( 0 = 0 325), the substrate thickness is thin tion at the same time. One sense would be controlled by the first
( 0 0 035), and the microstrip feed produces a completely
planar antenna system, which is compatible with microwave and feed and the other sense by the second feed. It is shown that the
millimeter integrated circuits (MICs), and monolithic microwave axialratioandself-impedancefrequencycharacteristicsforthein-
integrated circuits (MMICs). dividual ports are similar to the single-feed case at the expense of
Index TermsArray, circularly polarized antenna elements, mi- poor isolation between ports.
crostrip, single feed.
II. SINGLE STUB RING ANTENNA
I. INTRODUCTION
The geometry is shown in Fig. 1(a). The antenna is fed by

S INGLE-feed circularly polarized antennas are currently

receiving much attention. Circular polarization is ben-
eficial because current and future commercial and military
a 50- feedline embedded in the middle of a 62 mil substrate
with dielectric constant . The microstrip
is defined as a perfect electric conductor and the substrates
applications (e.g., satellite, terrestial communications) require are defined as lossless. The effective wavelength is defined as
the additional design freedom of not requiring alignment of the , with the effective dielectric constant given
electric field vector at the receiving and transmitting locations. by . It is designed for a center frequency
A single feed allows a reduction in the complexity, weight, of 6.5 GHz for the TM mode [13]. The ring inner radius is
and RF loss of an array feed. Circularly polarized microstrip 3.0 mm and the outer radius is 7.5 mm. The ring geometry
antennas have the additional advantage of small size and allows for a smaller physical size, than the
produce a completely planar antenna, which is compatible corresponding square and circular patch geometries. Feeding
with microwave and millimeter integrated circuits (MICs), and by proximity coupling from a microstrip line has the advan-
monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs). Previous tages of increasing the impedance bandwidth by the increased
works have demonstrated single-feed microstrip, aperture antenna/ground plane spacing and improved matching capa-
square, and circular patches with perturbations [4], [5]. Excita- bilities by simply moving the microstrip open end underneath
tion is either a microstrip or a stripline feed. the antenna [9][11] or by using different substratesuperstrate
permittivities [12]. For high-frequency applications, proximity
Manuscript received September 8, 1999; revised February 17, 2000. coupling has the further advantage of reducing radiation from
This work was supported by the U.S. Army Research Office Fellowship the feeding network. Derivation and extensive discussion of
DAAH04-95-1-0198. the theory and numerical methodology for microstrip elements
The authors are with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
University of California at Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697-2625 USA. used in this communication is presented in [1][3]. In this
Publisher Item Identifier S 0018-926X(00)06939-8. work, an extension and a more efficient version of the ALFIOS
0018926X/00$10.00 2000 IEEE
RAMIREZ et al.: SINGLE-FEED CIRCULARLY POLARIZED MICROSTRIP RING ANTENNA AND ARRAYS 1041

Fig. 2. (a) Axial ratio. (b) Input impedance for different feedline offsets.

Fig. 1. (a) Single microstrip feed proximity-coupled stub ring antenna

geometry. (b) Axial ratio for different inner stub lengths.

moment-method-based computer code has been developed and

used for the antenna designs under consideration.

A. Analysis of Antenna Geometry

Circular polarization is produced by perturbing the antenna
geometry to excite two orthogonal modes and placing the feed
such that these modes are excited in phase quadrature [4]. For
this communication we use a ring as the antenna geometry and
the perturbations are produced by adding two inner stubs. The
feed is a microstrip feedline placed within the antenna sub-
strate and excites the antenna by proximity coupling from the
open end placed underneath the center of the antenna. Fig. 1(b) Fig. 3. Axial ratio and VSWR for different stub rotation angles of single stub
demonstrates the effect of the inner stub length on the axial ratio ring antenna. Frequency is 6.5 GHz. Length of inner stubs is 2.5 mm and feedline
(AR) for a stub width of mm and a feedline offset of 0
offset is 1.0 mm.
mm. The AR decreases with increasing stub length,
with a value of 0.71 dB when the stub length is 2.5 mm. The AR optimum input match can be obtained with no feedline offset,
bandwidth is typical of a resonant antennaabout 1.0%. Next, resulting in a bandwidth of 5.4% for VSWR 2. The radiation
we investigate the effect of the feedline offset. We observe the efficiency ( ) is 88% since the losses due to
AR increases along with a frequency shift for positive offsets the conductors and substrate are defined as zero.
while it is insensitive for negative offsets, as shown in Fig. 2(a). Fig. 3 shows the AR and VSWR as a function of rotation
The input impedance as shown in Fig. 2(b) demonstrates that the angle of the ring antenna at the design frequency of 6.5 GHz.
1042 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 48, NO. 7, JULY 2000

Fig. 4. Comparison of experiment and theory for single antenna. (a) Return
loss. (b) Axial ratio. d = d = 31 mils,  =  = 2:33 , s = 0:0 mm.

Fig. 6. Radiation patterns at 6.32 GHz in the  = 90 plane for a single

element. (a) E . (b) E .

Both AR and VSWR are a minimum around a small range near

. This aspect may be useful since this allows for
a small tolerance error in manufacturing. We note that the two
polarization senses corresponding to and
are right-hand circular polarization (RHCP) and left-hand cir-
cular polarization (LHCP), respectively. The last section of this
paper demonstrates that both polarization senses with a single
element can be obtained by using two orthogonal feeds.
Broad patterns corresponding to about 80 3-dB beamwidths
are produced. In addition, broad and symmetric 3-dB axial ratio
beamwidths of nearly 120 are obtained.

Fig. 5. Axial ratio patterns at 6.32 GHz for a single antenna.

RAMIREZ et al.: SINGLE-FEED CIRCULARLY POLARIZED MICROSTRIP RING ANTENNA AND ARRAYS 1043

Fig. 7. Axial ratio, directivity, and VSWR for different interelement spacing
d .

Fig. 9. Radiation patterns. (a)  = 0:0 . (b)  = 90:0 . Theory f = 6:55

GHz, experiment f = 6:66 GHz.

beamwidth is observed at , while the plane

does not clearly demonstrate the broad and symmetric pattern
expected. The radiation patterns in the plane at 6.32
GHz are shown in Fig. 6. The separation into individual field
components is chosen to compare to theory and also demon-
strates the larger back radiation by the component. In all ex-
periments the antennas under test were used in a receive mode
with a linearly polarized standard gain horn as the transmitting
antenna. Axial ratio was derived by recording the amplitude and
phase of the received field for the transmitting antenna at two or-
thogonal planes.
Fig. 8. Frequency characteristics. (a) Return loss. (b) Axial ratio. 2 22
element array. d = 0:65 , d = 0:70 .
III. INTERELEMENT MUTUAL COUPING AND A FOURELEMENT
B. Comparison of Theory and Experiment ARRAY
An experimental validation of the novel antenna design was A large antenna array can be designed by first investigating
performed. Two RT/Duroid 5870 subtrates of thicknesses 31 the single antenna element to determine optimal antenna geom-
mils and dielectric constant 2.33 were used. Fig. 4 compares etry, then by determining optimal interelement spacing, and fi-
the return loss and axial ratio frequency characteristics. Good nally by designing small arrays (subarray units) that can then be
agreement is obtained for both parameters. The downward shift integrated into a larger array. This section will present an anal-
in the resonant frequency to 6.3 GHz is caused by the higher di- ysis of mutual coupling between two elements to determine the
electric constant substrate and can be predicted by the relation effects on axial ratio and VSWR. Then a four-element array will
. The axial ratio patterns in the major planes be designed and built. Comparison between theory and experi-
at 6.32 GHz are shown in Fig. 5. The wide and symmetric 3-dB ment will be presented.
1044 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 48, NO. 7, JULY 2000

Fig. 10. Axial ratio patterns, in the  = 90:0 plane. Theory f = 6:55 GHz,
experiment f = 6:66 GHz.

Fig. 12. Frequency characteristics for four-element array with sequential

rotation. (a) Return loss. (b) Axial ratio.

are shown in Fig. 9. The comparison between theory and exper-

iment is good with both patterns demonstrating symmetry and
small sidelobes. The axial ratio pattern in the is shown
in Fig. 10. The measured pattern shows good agreement with
Fig. 11. Four-element array with sequential rotation feeding technique. Phase
distribution and element rotation. theory.

IV. FOUR-ELEMENT ARRAYS WITH SEQUENTIAL ROTATION

One 50- feedline excites the array via a two way power di-
FEEDING TECHNIQUE
vider. A quarter-wave impedance transformer (70.7 ) is used
to convert the impedance at the power divider (100 ) to the A method to increase the AR bandwidth of arrays is to
required impedance at the antenna element feed point (50 ). use the sequential rotation feeding technique [4][8]. The
The total subtrate thickness is 62 mils and the dielectric con- antenna elements are physically rotated relative to each other
stant is 2.2. The antenna parameters of interest as a function of and the feed phase is individually adjusted to each element to
interelement spacing are shown in Fig. 7. We observe that the compensate for the rotation. The optimal sequentially rotated
axial ratio is below 2 dB for spacings greater than 0.55 while array is shown in Fig. 11. Two 31-mil-thick RT/Duroid 5880
the VSWR is below two throughout the range shown. substrates were used. The interelement spacings
Using the information above a 2 2 element array was de- are and . The element phase shift
signed, constructed, and tested. Two 31-mil-thick RT/Duroid is produced by adding the appropriate lengths of microstrip
5880 substrates were used. The element spacings line within the feeding network. The frequency characteristics
are and . The corporate feed is comparing theory and experiment are shown in Fig. 12. The
designed to produce excitation of equal amplitude and phase to measured return loss shows an upward shift in frequency by
each antenna element. The return loss and axial ratio frequency 1.5%, similar to the original array. The theoretical VSWR 2
response is shown in Fig. 8. We observe a shift in frequency bandwidth is 12% while the measured bandwidth is 18%. The
of 1.5% between theory and experiment. The radiation patterns theoretical and experimental AR bandwidths are 6.1%, four
RAMIREZ et al.: SINGLE-FEED CIRCULARLY POLARIZED MICROSTRIP RING ANTENNA AND ARRAYS 1045

Fig. 13. Axial ratio patterns of 222 array with sequential rotation at 6.34
2 2 array with sequential rotation at 6.34 GHz.
GHz. (a)  = 0:0 . (b)  = 90:0 .
Fig. 14. Radiation patterns of 2
(a)  = 0:0 . (b)  = 90:0 .

times larger than the traditional array. The feedline offsets

under the antenna elements are optimized to 0.0 mm. The AR is mm. One quarter-wave transformer is used for each port. The
sensitive to the feedline offset, with similar responses as in the inner stub lengths are 2.0 mm. The axial ratio for each excita-
single-element case. The axial ratio patterns at the band edge tion port is centered at 6.49 GHz. The reflection coefficients are
6.34 GHz are shown in Fig. 13. The corresponding radiation slightly shifted from the axial ratio center frequency. The iso-
patterns are shown in Fig. 14. The different diagrams are used for lation coefficient magnitude reaches a maximum value of 9
clarity in comparing the experimental and theoretical results in dB at the center frequency. This coupling is much larger than
the principal planes. The experimental results demonstrate the the case for a dual linear polarized element ( 20 dB). The very
asymmetric patterns as predicted by theory. The asymmetries are poor isolation between orthogonal ports will not allow its use
caused by the rotated elements and the associated asymmetric in frequency reuse communications applications. Future work
feed network. will investigate reducing mutual coupling in an array environ-
ment by using the sequential rotation technique.
V. DUAL CIRCULAR POLARIZATION CAPABILITIES USING TWO
FEEDS VI. CONCLUSION
The single-element analysis demonstrated that the stub ring In conclusion, a ring antenna with inner stubs produces
antenna can radiate both senses of polarization. The sense of circular polarization utilizing just one microstrip feedline. The
polarization is determined by the angle between the feedline length of the inner stubs controls the quality of the circular
and the inner stubs. We now wish to see if two feeds perpen- polarization. Polarization of either sense is controlled by the
dicular to each other can be used for dual polarization. Fig. 15 angle between the inner stubs and the embedded feedline. The
presents the axial ratio and -parameters for a single-antenna axial ratio bandwidth is 1.0% and the VSWR bandwidth is
element excited by two 50- feeds with offset of 6.1%. The 3-dB radiation patterns and axial ratio patterns are
1046 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 48, NO. 7, JULY 2000

allowing them to conduct the axial ratio and radiation patterns

there.

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[12] D. R. Jackson and N. G. Alexopoulos, Analysis of planar strip geome-
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on AR and VSWR between elements in a two-element array
were presented. The frequency response of a four element array
was shown to be similar to the single element. It was shown
that the sequential rotation feeding technique increased the AR
and VSWR bandwidths to 6.1% and 18% for a four-element Raul Ricardo Ramirez (S94) was born in El Paso,
array. Dual polarization with one antenna element using two TX, on March 16, 1969. He obtained the A.S. degree
independent orthogonal feeds was also presented. The stub from East Los Angeles College, CA, in 1991, and the
B.S.E.E. and M.S.E.E. degrees from the University
ring antenna element thus promises to be a viable candidate of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), in 1994 and
for circularly polarized array applications. The axial ratio 1997, respectively. He is currently pursuing the Ph.D.
and VSWR responses for the case of main beam scanning off degree at the University of California, Irvine (UCI).
His teaching activities include serving as a
broadside will be further investigated. Teaching Assistant (TA) during spring 1999 at UCI.
He received the highest student evaluation scores
of all TAs in the ECE Department. His service
contributions include mentoring and tutoring high school and undergraduate
ACKNOWLEDGMENT students at UCLA through his involvement with the Minority Engineering
Program and the Academic Advancement Program. While at UCI he has
served as a Graduate Student Mentor for the California Alliance for Minority
The authors would like to thank the UCLA Center for High- Participation, Center for Opportunities and Diversity in Engineering, and the
Frequency Electronics allowing them to conduct the return loss McNair/STAR Program. Raul plans to enter a teaching career with the goal
measurements with the Hewlett Packard 8720 Microwave Net- of increasing the quality and quantity of women, ethnic/racial minorities, and
the working class in science and engineering fields. His research interests
work Analyzer. The would also like to thank the UCLA An- include printed circuit antennas (e.g., microstrip, aperture), novel materials,
tenna Research, Applications, and Measurement Laboratory for and photonic bandgap structures for printed circuit antenna substrates.
RAMIREZ et al.: SINGLE-FEED CIRCULARLY POLARIZED MICROSTRIP RING ANTENNA AND ARRAYS 1047

Franco De Flaviis was born in Teramo, Italy, Nicolaos G. Alexopoulos (S68M69SM82F87) was born in Athens,
in 1963. He received the degree in electronics Greece, on April 14, 1942. He received the degree from the Eighth Gymnasium
engineering from the University of Ancona, Italy, in of Athens, Greece, in 1959, and the B.S.E.E., M.S.E.E., and Ph.D. degrees from
1990, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 1965, 1967, and 1968, respectively.
engineering from the Department of Electrical He joined the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University
Engineering at the University of California at Los of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he was a member of the faculty of
Angeles (UCLA), in 1994 and 1997, respectively. the Electrical Engineering Department from 1969 to 1996. While at UCLA, he
In 1991, he worked at Alcatel, Torino, Italy, as served as Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs from 1986 to 1987 and Chair of the
a Researcher specializing in the area of microwave Electrical Engineering Department from 1987 to 1992. Since January 1997 he
mixer design. In 1992, he was a Visiting Researcher has been a Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department
at UCLA, working on low intermodulation mixers. at the University of California, Irvine, where he also serves as the Dean of the
In 1998, he joined the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, School of Engineering. He has served over the years as a Consultant to a variety
University of California at Irvine, as an Assistant Professor. He is presently of U.S. and foreign corporations and the U.S. Government. In addition, he has
working in the field of novel antenna designs for wireless systems. His research been on the editorial board of various professional journals and, more recently,
includes both theoretical and experimental studies of microwave mixers and he served as Editor-in-Chief of Electromagnetics. He is the author of over 250
circuits and the synthesis of low-loss ferroelectric material for phase-shifter refereed journal and conference proceedings papers. His recent research activ-
design to be employed in scan-beam antenna systems. ities have focused on the modeling and design of three-dimensional integrated
circuits and printed antennas in multilayered materials, wireless communica-
tion antennas and systems, interconnect problems in complex networks, novel
materials and smart structures in low-observable systems, and computational
methods.
Dr. Alexopoulos was corecipient of the IEEE S. E. Schelkunoff Prize Best
Paper Award in 1985 and 1998.