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Coplanar Waveguide-Fed Square Slot Antenna for Broadband Circularly Polarized Radiation
Jia-Yi Sze, Kin-Lu Wong, and Chieh-Chin Huang
AbstractA new design of a broadband circularly polarized square slot antenna fed by a single coplanar waveguide (CPW) is proposed and experimentally studied. The proposed broadband circular polarization (CP) operation is achieved by protruding a T-shaped metallic strip from the ground plane toward the slot center and feeding the square slot antenna using a 50- CPW with a protruded signal strip at 90 to the T-shaped strip. Experimental results of constructed prototypes show that the obtained 3-dB and 1-dB axial-ratio bandwidths can reach as large as 18% and 13%, respectively. The proposed antenna also has a peak antenna gain of about 4 dBi, with gain variations less than 1 dBi for frequencies within the CP bandwidth.

Index TermsCircular polarization, coplanar waveguide (CPW)-fed, printed square slot antenna.

I. INTRODUCTION For generating circular polarization (CP) radiation using a single feed, many microstrip antenna designs have been reported [1]. The obtained CP bandwidth (3-dB axial-ratio bandwidth), however, is usually narrow and less than 2%. When the same microwave substrate is used, corresponding printed slot antennas, especially wide slot antennas [2][7], usually have a much wider CP bandwidth than single-feed circularly polarized microstrip antennas. The CP bandwidth of about 12% has been achieved for a microstripline-fed square slot antenna [6], and it is also noted that most of the available circularly polarized wide slot antenna designs are with a microstripline feed [2][6]. The design with a CPW feed [7] is relatively scant, although it is known that printed slot antennas with a CPW feed have the advantage of uniplanar geometry and are thus easier to fabricate than the design with a microstripline feed. This motivates the present study. In this paper, we propose a novel design of a CPW-fed circularly polarized square slot antenna. The proposed antenna has a simple uniplanar geometry and is fed by a CPW with a modified signal strip (see Fig. 1). From experimental results of the constructed prototypes, the obtained 3-dB axial-ratio (AR) bandwidth can be greater than 18%, and 1-dB AR bandwidth can reach 13%. To the authors knowledge, the obtained CP bandwidths for the proposed antenna are relatively much better than the presently available single-feed circularly polarized printed wide slot antennas [2][7]. II. ANTENNA GEOMETRY AND DESIGN RULES The geometry of the proposed antenna is shown in Fig. 1. The square slot of a side length of L was printed on a grounded substrate of thickness h and relative permittivity "r . A T-shaped metallic strip of width 1 mm is protruded toward the slot center at the center of one slot edge. The center arm and upper arm of the T-strip are, respectively, with lengths of `s and `c . Along the direction 90 to the T-strip, a 50-
CPW with a protruded signal strip is used to feed the antenna. The 50-
CPW has a signal strip of width Wf and a gap of spacing g between the
Manuscript received September 15, 2000; revised January 23, 2002. J.-Y. Sze was with the Department of Electrical Engineering, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan 804, R.O.C. He is now with the Department of Electrical Engineering, Chung Cheng Institute of Technology, National Defense University, Taoyuang 335, R.O.C. K.-L. Wong and C.-C. Huang are with the Department of Electrical Engineering, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan 804, R.O.C. Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TAP.2003.815421

Fig. 1. Geometry of the proposed CPW-fed broadband circularly polarized square slot antenna. TABLE I PARAMETERS AND CP PERFORMANCES OF CONSTRUCTED PROTOTYPES; " 4:4, h = 1:6 mm, L = 40 mm, W = 6:4 mm, g = 0:5 mm. 3 DB AR BW AND 1 DB AR BW REPRESENT, RESPECTIVELY, THE 3-DB AND 1-DB AXIAL-RATIO BANDWIDTHS. THE CENTER FREQUENCY f IS DEFINED TO BE THE AVERAGE OF THE LOWER AND HIGHER FREQUENCIES WITH 3-DB AXIAL RATIO

signal strip and the ground plane. At the position with a notched length of `n from the slot edge, the signal strip of the CPW is narrowed to have a width of Wt (Wt < Wf ), and protruded into the square slot. The section of the protruded signal strip in the square slot has a length of `t With the proposed geometry, it was experimentally found that, when suitable dimensions of `s , `t , Wt , `c , and `n are chosen, good CP radiation over a wide frequency range can be obtained. From numerous experiments, empirical rules for selecting suitable dimensions of `s , `t , Wt , `c , and `n are obtained, based on the use of very common and inexpensive FR4 microwave substrates (h = 1:6 mm and "r = 4:4). For a printed square slot with a side length of L, the T-strips center arm length (`s ) and the protruded signal strips length in the slot (`t )

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(a)

(b) Fig. 3. Measured (a) axial ratios and (b) antenna gain in the broadside direction for antennas 1 and 2.

Wt

Fig. 2. Measured input impedance on the Smith chart for antennas 1 and 2. Antenna parameters are given in Table I.

used for antennas 1 to 7, broadband CP radiation was obtained by selecting suitable values of `c and `n . For antenna 1, `c and `n were selected to be 9.2 and 9.7 mm, respectively, and a wide 3-dB (1-dB) AR bandwidth of 18.8% (12.7%) referenced to the center frequency at 1965 MHz was obtained. In the following, with `s fixed to be 15 mm and `t fixed to be 15 or 16 mm, effects of `n , Wt , and `c on the CP performances are presented. A. Effect of Notched Length (`n ) (Antennas 1, 2)

should be about the same and in the range of about 0:35L to 0:45L. And the width of the protruded signal strip (Wt ) can be set to be 1 mm or any widths less than the 50-
CPWs signal strip width (Wf ). Once `s , `t , and Wt are chosen, one can then fine tune the T-strips upper arm length (`c ) and the notched length (`n ) at the feed position to generate good CP radiation and achieve good impedance matching. The optimal length of `c is also found to be in a range of about 0.5 `s to 0.62 `s , while that of `n is usually larger than `c and increases with an increase of Wt . Also note that the configuration of the proposed design in Fig. 1 gives left-hand circularly polarized (LHCP) radiation. When the CPW feed line is arranged to feed the square slot in the opposite direction shown in Fig. 1, right-hand circularly polarized (RHCP) radiation can be obtained.

III. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Many prototypes (antennas 1 to 7) have been implemented, and their design parameters and CP performances are listed in Table I for comparison. The square slot had a side length of 40 mm (L), and was printed on a grounded FR4 substrate of thickness 1.6 mm, relative permittivity 4.4, and size 70 2 70 mm2 . The length of `s was fixed to be 15 mm (= 0:375L) for antennas 1 to 7 in Table I. In this case, two different lengths of `t (15 and 16 mm) were chosen, and Wt was varied to be 1.0, 3.0, and 5.0 mm. Based on various parameters of `s , `t , and

Fig. 2 shows the measured input impedance on the Smith chart for antennas 1 and 2. It is seen that, for antennas 1 and 2, a small dip or resonant loop at about 1965 and 1960 MHz, respectively, and around the center of the Smith chart is obtained. This characteristic usually indicates that two resonant modes are excited at close frequencies, and in this case CP radiation is usually obtained [8]. Measured axial ratios and antenna gain for antennas 1 and 2 are shown in Fig. 3. The 3-dB AR bandwidths obtained are both larger than 18%, and the 1-dB AR bandwidths are 12.7% and 11.2%, respectively, for antennas 1 and 2. It is also observed that, within the 3-dB AR bandwidth, the antenna gain variations are less than 1.0 dBi, with a peak antenna gain of about 3.7 dBi (antenna 1) and 4 dBi (antenna 2). The measured radiation patterns for antennas 1 and 2 are plotted in Fig. 4, and good LHCP radiation with broadside radiation patterns is seen. Since there is a length difference of 0.4 mm (or about 4%) in `n for antennas 1 and 2, the obtained results suggest that a small variation in `n has a small or negligible effect in CP operation of the proposed antenna. This also suggests that a small manufacturing error in `n , if possible, can be tolerated for the proposed antenna. In addition, note that a printed slot antenna without a reflecting plate is a bi-directional radiator, and the radiation patterns in both sides of the antenna are about the same. The proposed antenna also shows the same characteristic; that is, the measured front-to-back ratio is close to 0 dB.

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Fig. 4.

Measured radiation patterns for antennas 1 and 2.

Fig. 5. Measured input impedance on the Smith chart for antennas 3 to 5. Antenna parameters are given in Table I.

B. Effect of Protruded Signal Strips Width (Wt ) (Antennas 3, 4, 5) In this case, `s and `t were fixed to be 15 mm (= 0:375L) and 16 mm (= 0:4L), respectively, and Wt was varied to be 1 mm (antenna 3), 3 mm (antenna 4), and 5 mm (antenna 5). Good CP radiation was also obtained with (`c , `n ) adjusted to (8.1, 8.7 mm), (8.1, 10.4 mm) and (7.5, 14.2 mm) for antennas 3 to 5, respectively; `c was in the range of about 0.5 to 0.54 `s , and `n was increased with an increase of Wt and was greater than `c . Fig. 5 plots measured input impedance on the Smith chart for antennas 3 to 5, and the axial ratios and antenna gain were also measured. Very similar CP performances are observed for

Fig. 6. Measured input impedance on the Smith chart for antennas 6 and 7. Antenna parameters are given in Table I.

antennas 3 to 5. The antenna gain variations are within 1.0 dBi across the CP bandwidth, with a peak antenna gain of about 3.5 to 4 dBi for antennas 3 to 5. From the obtained results, it implies that, for Wt varying from 1 mm to any values less than the 50-
CPWs signal strip width (When Wt = Wf , good broadband CP radiation as shown here is difficult to achieve), good broadband CP radiation can be obtained. However, since `n increases with an increase of Wt , and thus a larger ground-plane size may be required for integration with associated mi-

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crowave circuitry for the proposed antenna with a larger value of Wt . Therefore, selecting a smaller value of Wt is suggested for practical designs of the proposed antenna. C. Effect of T-Strips Upper Arm Length (`c ) (Antennas 3, 6, 7) The values of `s , `t , Wt , and `n were fixed to be 15, 16, 1.0, and 8.7 mm here, and the value of `c was varied to be 8.1 mm (antenna 3), 8.3 mm (antenna 6), and 8.5 mm (antenna 7). Measured input impedance on the Smith chart for antennas 6 and 7 are depicted in Fig. 6. The axial ratios and antenna gain for antennas 6 and 7 were also measured. Results for antenna 3 can be seen in Fig. 5. From the obtained results, similar broadband CP radiation as other prototypes given in Table I is also observed. This also suggests that small variations in `c (from 8.1 to 8.5 mm, that is, 0.4 mm or about 5% variation) have small or negligible effects on the CP performances of the proposed antenna, similar as the behavior observed for `n in part A of this section. IV. CONCLUSION A new broadband CPW-fed circularly polarized square slot antenna has been demonstrated. Many prototypes have been successfully implemented. In addition to the advantage of simple uniplanar geometry for the proposed antenna, experimental results show that the obtained 3-dB (1-dB) AR bandwidth can reach as large as about 18% (13%). Empirical design rules for the proposed design have also been given. In addition, although the design rules are based on the commonly used, inexpensive FR4 microwave substrate, it is expected that they can also be helpful when the proposed slot antenna printed on other available microwave substrates is desired. REFERENCES
[1] K. L. Wong, Compact and Broadband Microstrip Antennas. New York, NY: Wiley, 2002, ch. 5. [2] R. M. Sorbello, A. I. Zaghloul, J. Effland, and D. DiFonzo, A highefficiency flat plate array for direct broadcast satellite applications, in Proc. Eur. Microwave Conf., 1988, pp. 295299. [3] R. M. Sorbello and A. I. Zaghloul, Wideband, high-efficiency, circularly polarized slot elements, in Proc. IEEE Antennas Propagation Soc. Int. Symp. Dig., 1989, pp. 14731476. [4] J. Jun and Y. Lee, Triplate printed antenna with circular slot, in Proc. EEE Antennas Propagation Soc. Int. Symp. Dig., 1998, pp. 21282131. [5] T. N. Chang and C. P. Wu, Microstripline-fed circularly-polarized aperture antenna, in Proc. IEEE Antennas Propagation Soc. Int. Symp. Dig., 1998, pp. 13721375. [6] K. L. Wong, J. Y. Wu, and C. K. Wu, A circularly-polarized patchloaded square-slot antenna, Microwave Opt. Technol. Lett., vol. 23, pp. 363365, Dec. 1999. [7] E. A. Soliman, S. Brebels, E. Beyne, and G. A. E. Vandenbosch, Circularly polarized aperture antenna fed by CPW and built in MCM-D technology, Electron. Lett., vol. 35, pp. 250251, Feb. 1999. [8] J. H. Lu, C. L. Tang, and K. L. Wong, Single-feed slotted equilateral-triangular microstrip antenna for circular polarization, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propagat., vol. 47, pp. 11741178, July 1999.

On Improving Coupling Between a Coplanar Waveguide Feed and a Dielectric Resonator Antenna
Yong-Xin Guo and Kwai-Man Luk

AbstractA cylindrical dielectric resonator antenna fed by a coplanar waveguide is studied. By connecting a vertical strip at the end of the center strip of the coplanar waveguide, the input impedance matching of a lowpermittivity dielectric resonator antenna can be improved substantially. Moreover, it offers an impedance bandwidth as wide as 22% and a maximum gain of 5.5 dBi. The measured radiation patterns are stable across the operating frequency range. Index TermsAntennas, coplanar waveguide, dielectric resonator.

I. INTRODUCTION Dielectric resonator antennas (DRAs) are increasingly popular [1][6] as they share many of the advantages of the microstrip antennas, such as small size, low profile, and light weight. In addition, DRAs exhibit a relatively large bandwidth (10% for ("r  10), whereas in their basic form patch antennas have a typical bandwidth of only 13%. Moreover, DRAs avoid the inherent disadvantages of patch antennas, including high conduction loss at millimeter wave frequencies, and low efficiency due to surface wave excitation. It has been shown that DRAs can be excited by a coaxial probe [1], [5], [6], a microstrip transmission line [2], aperture-coupling [3], or a coplanar waveguide (CPW) feed [4]. Among the various feeding geometries, the CPW facilitates parallel and series connections of both passive and active components because of its uniplanar configuration. As a result, the CPW feed is very suitable and competitive for the design of active integrated antennas. Moreover, the CPW feed has small dispersion and low conductor and radiation losses up to millimeter-wave frequencies, when designed properly. As indicated in the experimental investigation of using CPW to excite DRAs [4], matching the impedance may be difficult with low-permittivity DRAs. It is also noticed that only high-permittivity DRAs with the CPW feed were investigated subsequently [7], [8]. In this paper, a technique for improving the input matching of a CPW-fed DRA with low permittivity by adding a vertical strip extended from the center strip of the CPW on the surface of the DR is proposed. The DRA operates at the HEM11 (broadside mode). The new DRA also exhibits a wide impedance bandwidth of 22% (SWR  2) and a maximum gain of 5.5 dBi. II. ANTENNA CONFIGURATION The configuration of the CPW fed DRA to be investigated is shown in Fig. 1. The cylindrical dielectric resonator has a height of b = 10:6 mm, a radius of a = 10:8 mm, and a dielectric constant of "r = 9:5. The substrate used is a 1.6-mm thick Rogers RT/Duroid with a dielectric constant of ("rs = 2:2. The CPW, designed to have a characteristic impedance of 50
, has a signal strip of width Gs = 3 mm and a separation Ws = 0:3mm between the signal strip and the coplanar ground plane. The square ground plane has a size of 110 mm by 110 mm. The CPW is open circuited by a rectangular slot of

Manuscript received March 12, 2001; revised May 20, 2002. Y.-X. Guo is with the Institute for Infocomm Research, Singapore Science Park II, Singapore 117674, Singapore (e-mail: yxguo@ieee.org). K.-M. Luk is with the Department of Electronic Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China. Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TAP.2003.814740 0018-926X/03$17.00 2003 IEEE