A Low-Profile Dual-Polarized Magneto-Electric Dipole Antenna

A novel low-profile dual-polarized magneto-electric dipole antenna with two choices of feeding probes are proposed and investigated. The antenna utilizes a radiating structure which adopts equilateral triangular cavities with small gaps as the magnetic dipole while maintaining the original rectangular planar patches as the electric dipole, reducing the thickness to 0.15 lambda(0) (where lambda(0) is the free-space wavelength at the center frequency). Each type of the feeding probe has its own merit and demerit in terms of mechanical robustness, performance and assembly tolerance. Measurement results show that the prototypes achieve wide impedance bandwidth of 48% (SWR < 2), high gain (7.7 to 11 dBi) and unidirectional radiation patterns with low cross-polarizations (< -22dB) and back-radiation level.