Wideband Low-Profile SIW Cavity-Backed Circularly Polarized Antenna With High-Gain and Conical-Beam Radiation

A low-profile substrate-integrated waveguide (SIW) cavity-based antenna with conical-beam circularly polarized (CP) radiation is presented. Conical-beam CP radiation is obtained by the combination of a radial current source and a loop current source, which are produced by a shorted monopole patch and an annular array, respectively. The proposed annular array configuration is designed by combining multiple identical customized parasitic patch elements arranged around the monopole. Phase compensatory lines and shorted annular ring slots are introduced in the array to tune phase difference of two current sources and to generate in-phase currents on the elements, respectively. All antenna elements are simultaneously excited within a center-fed SIW cavity. In order to fully picture the operating mechanism, we analyze the wide impedance and axial-ratio (AR) bandwidths based on an equivalent circuit model and an electromagnetic theory. Then, parametric studies are carried out for a detailed design illustration. To verify the design, a prototype has been fabricated and measured, which shows a stable conical-beam radiation and good performance including: a low profile of 0.062 lambda(0), a 10 dB impedance bandwidth of 20.4%, a 3 dB AR bandwidth of 17%, a maximum gain of 8.25 dBic, and an advantage of large ground compatibility.