A novel single feed omnidirectional circularly polarized antenna with wide AR bandwidth

Abstract

A novel omnidirectional circularly polarized (CP) antenna with single feed is proposed for 2.4 GHz WLAN applications. Based on the zeroth-order resonance (ZOR) mode of epsilon negative (ENG) transmission line (TL), the antenna excites uniform vertically polarized E-field just as the monopole does. A modified Alford loop with electromagnetic coupling fed by L-shaped strip consists of four curved branches, which is placed on the top of the antenna and generates an equivalent horizontally polarized magnetic dipole mode. Once the two orthogonally polarized components are equal in amplitude but different in phase by 90°, omnidirectional CP wave can be obtained. The measured results show that the impedance bandwidth (S11 < -10 dB) is 6% (2.38-2.53 GHz), and the 3-dB axial ratio bandwidth in the azimuth plane is very wide which achieves 54% (1.60-2.80 GHz). Additionally, the 3-dB axial ratio beamwidth is over 50° for radiation pattern in elevation plane. Moreover, the antenna achieves excellent omnidirectional right-hand CP performance with a variation of 0.5 dB in the azimuth plane and an average gain over 1.5 dB across the operating band, which are well applied to the wireless system.