Integration of a Via-Loaded Annular-Ring Reduced-Surface-Wave Antenna and a Branch-Line Coupler

This study proposes a dual-circularly polarized Reduced-Surface-Wave (RSW) antenna which has a compact and simple structure by the integration of a via-loaded annular-ring (VLAR)-RSW antenna with a branch-line coupler. The fundamental characteristics of a VLAR-RSW antenna are analyzed through simulations in detail. In general, stronger mutual coupling between RSW antennas occurs in comparison with conventional patch antennas when the element spacing is small, since the effect of the close physical distance becomes larger than the effect of surface wave suppression. It is shown that the VLAR antenna can reduce the mutual coupling than the conventional antenna by selecting the appropriate radius at each element spacing, even when the element spacing is small. A matching circuit is generally required for an annular-ring antenna because of the high input impedance when exciting the TM11 mode. In contrast, for the VLAR-RSW antenna, impedance matching is feasible without a matching circuit by adjusting the distance between the feed position and the shorting vias. Measured results show the performance of the developed dual-circularly polarized antenna is in agreement with the simulation. At 5.8GHz, the measured axial ratios of both polarizations are smaller than 0.6dB and the measured isolation between ports is about 29 dB. Moreover, it is shown that the developed antenna reduces mutual coupling than the conventional patch antenna because of the effect of suppressing surface waves.