The multiturn half-loop antenna

The multiturn half-loop antenna consists of a coaxial array of N circular, half loops mounted perpendicular to a conducting image plane and interconnected beneath the image plane by a set of N-1 coaxial transmission lines. This antenna is analyzed using a Fourier series expansion for the current in the loops and a new, accurate model for the excitation of the loops by the TEM field in the coaxial apertures at their ends. When this structure is electrically small, the currents in all of the loops are approximately equal; hence, it has the well-know characteristics of an electrically small multiturn loop antenna. For a structure of general electrical size, both the radius of the loops and the lengths of the transmission lines can be adjusted to optimize the performance of the antenna for a particular application. Surprisingly, proper phasing of the excitations can make a multiturn half-loop antenna of moderate electrical size have a simple toroidal pattern, a pattern that can be obtained for a single-turn, half-loop antenna only when it is electrically small. This result is verified experimentally for a two-turn loop. Examples are shown where electrically large loops are phased with the interconnecting transmission lines to produce nearly optimum end-fire and broadside patterns.<>