A wideband circularly-polarized patch antenna for array applications

A compact (38.9 mm diameter by 12.7 mm tall) patch antenna was designed for applications requiring circular polarization and high gain at the horizon. The circular microstrip patch element was fed with four L-shaped probe feeds and a broadband feed network to produce a right hand circularly polarized (RHCP) antenna with broad impedance and axial ratio bandwidths covering 1.05 GHz to 2 GHz. This design enables antenna diameter reduction compared with patch antennas utilizing air substrates. This patch element is suitable for wideband phased array applications.