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summary
-I.
Introduction
11.
-
Theory
E,
When excited frm a balanced two-wire transmission line, these configurations exhibit
broadband c h a r a c t e r i s t i c w i t h r e s p e c t t o i n p u t impedance, radiation pattern, and c i r c u l a r p o l a r i a a t k n
of the radiated field. Since the
dual-annArchimedian s p i r a l p o s s e s s e s t h e g r e a t e s t symmetrg,
o n l y this form i s discussed; many of the results,
however, a r e d i r e c t l y a p p l i c a b l e t o t h e o t h e r
shapes.
....................
*"hework reported i n this paper was sponsored @
t h e Airborne Instruments Laboratory, Division of
Cutler-iIammer,Inc.,
P.O.No.
6468 under Air Force
Contract No. AF'33(600)-37829.
84
discussed, one which produces a single lobe radia t i o n p a t t e r n w i t h a maximum along the axis of t h e
s p i r a l , w h i l e t h e second produces a split-beam
pattern with a n u l l on-axis.
The fundamental or
normal mode will be described first.
Let t h ev e c t o r s
A and A' of Figure 2
represent differential current elements a t two
diametrically opposite points on t h e same conducA A I
i s exactly
t o r , such t h a tt h ea r cl e n g t h
equal t o one-halfwavelength.
The currentvectors
A and AI a r ei n phasesincethevector
A' is
d i r e c t e do p p o s i t et ot h ev e c t o r
A by v i r t u e of
t h e geometry plus an additional 180 degrees due t o
AA'. Corresponding t o t h e c u r r e n t
t h ea r cl e n g t h
element A, t h e r e i s an
element
B on t h e second
conductorhaving t h e same r e l a t i v e phase. The
A
element B i s diametricallyoppositeelement
and equidistant from theorigin.
It therefore
A,
followsthatthedifferentialcurrentvectors
B, and B' a r ec o l i n e a r and of t h e same
A',
direction. On .extending this reasoning, it f o l lows t h a t t h e r e i s a band of f i n i t e breadth having
a mean diameter of X/n i n which the current elements in adjacent conductor are in phase, or nearl y so. This i s t h e first radiation band.
-bli
CavityorSpiral
Eiameter
- --A.
band.
2h.
85
When t h e s p i r a l o u t e r t e r m i n a l s are e i t h e r
short-circuited or l e f t open-circuited the band
theory t e l l s us t h a t t h e axial r a t i o should become
progressively larger as t h e s p i r a l d i a m e t e r is reduced, approaching l i n e a r p o l a r i z a t i o n as t h e spiral d e g e n e r a t e s t o a simpledipole.
This e f f e c t
i s i l l u s t r a t e d i n F i g u r e b.
c i t a t i o n of t h e c a v i t y a n d / o r t h e t h i r d r a d i a t i n g
band.
Cavity Depth
-B. -The e f f e c t of cavity depth on the gain of t h e
spiral antenna i s i l l u s t r a t e d i n F i g u r e 6; again
t h e measured gain has been normalized t o t h e average axial r a t i o and i s corrected for input V W R .
This data clearly illustrates the
second limitat i o n of the operating bandwidth of a cavity-backed
s p i r a l antenna.Interms
of tolerablereduction
i n g a i n a t t h e band edges, say 3 db, the usable
antenna bandwidth i s limited t o about 3.3:1 due t o
t h e c a v i t y depth.
It i s i n t e r e s t i n g t o c o n s i d e r t h e e f f e c t of
terminating the spiral outer ends with resistors
orabsorbing material. The most dramatic result
i s t h e improvement i n a x i a l r a t i o f o r small D/X
r a t i o s as shown i n Figure 5. Note t h a t t h e anT h i s retennagain i s unaffected by the loading.
sult i s primarily due t o t h e manner i n which t h e
gain was normalized; i.e.,
it was normalized t o
theaverage axial r a t i o . The explanation of these
r e s u l t s f o l l o w s d i r e c t l y from the previous discussion. The poor a x i a l r a t i o results from"second
pass" radiation which i s of the reverse sense. For
a given polarization, this f i e l d e i t h e r adds t o o r
subtracts from t h e main o r first pass radiation,
a l t e r i n g t h e axial ratio while leaving the nomalized gain unchanged.
S p i r a l Rate ofGrowth
-C. ----
It will be r e c a l l e d t h a t t h e development of
t h e simple theory merely required that t h e spiral
be t i g h t l y wound; i.e., a small r a t e of growth.
Intuitively, one might e x p e c t t h a t f o r an annular
r i n g of given width and mean diameter equal t o
X/.,
an increasepercentage of the input power
w i l l be radiated f r m this r i n g as t h e numberof
t u r n s i s increased. Less power i s thenavailable
a t t h e mter terminals of t h e spira3, and consei n the radiated field
quently, the total energy
having a reversedsense i s reduced. The axial
r a t i o should, therefore, be
reduced as t h e s p i r a l
i s woundmore t i g h t l y .
I n summary, it can be s t a t e d t h a t :
(1) The cavitydiametershould
be chosen equal t o t h e s p i r a l diameter.
( 2 ) Too small a cavity diameter results
i n reduced gain,increased VS'&
and increased
ellipticity ratio.
86
-D.
Dielectric
Material
-F.
-E.
Antenna Feed
--
In t h e e v e n t t h a t t h e s p i r a l d i a m e t e r
i s not
l a r g e enough t o support the split-beam radiation
mode, t h a t p o r t i o n of t h e energy contained i n t h e
even e x c i t a t i o n will be reflected and appear a t
the input as an increased VSWR unless it i s absorbed a t t h e s p i r a l o u t e r t e n n i n a l s .
beammode.
T h i s s i t u a t i o n i s easily recognized by
noting a sylrrmetrical p a t t e r n a t t h e low frequenc i e s w i t h a gradual dissymmetry occurring a t the
higher frequencies.
Square Versus Round S p i r a l
-G. ----
Experimental Results
W
e have previously considered the various design parameters as they affect the behavior of t h e
cavity-backed Archimedian spiral antenna. I n this
section experimental data are presented t o i l l u s t r a t e t h e t y p e of performance which might reasonably be expected from these antennas operating i n a
r e a l environment, and subjected t o t h e c o n s t r a i n t s
imposed by fabrication techniques and mechanical
considerations. The spiral datapresented are
t y p i c a l of that obtained on many d i f f e r e n t models
a t frequencies ranging from 200 mc t o LOOO mc;
frequency bands considered were of the order of
two t o one.The
specific data presented were obtained with a unit three inches in diameter,
one
inch i n depth, and printed on epoxg f i b e r g l a s s
NEMA grade G10.
Data showing the frequency dependence of t h e
input impedance, axial r a t i o , and beamwidth of an
S-band s p i r a l antenna are given i n Figure 9. It
should be noted that over the octave range the
ona x i s e l l i p t i c i t y r a t i o i s less than 3 db, t h e i n put VSWR is l e s s t h a n 2:l and t h e beamwidth varies
between 60 and 80 degrees. These values appear t o
represent a comfortable goal f o r t h e antenna de&
e
m
signer and a reasonable specification for q
designpurposes.
One shouldnotconcludethat
more stringent requirements could not
be met, but
r a t h e r that any f u r t h e r improvement would require
appreckably greater mechanical tolerances and uni-
In most l i t e r a t u r e d e a l i n g w i t h c i r c u l a r l y
i s taken as
polarized antennas, ellipticity ratio
oneof t h e primary c r i t e r i a f o r judging the qualit y of t h e antenna; reference i s seldom madeof t h e
Tlhereas
corresponding f i g u r e f o r off-axisangles.
this p r a c t i c e might be adequate f o r many t p e s of
be very misleadantennas, on-axis data alone can
ing when a p p l i e d t o t h e flush-mounted s p i r a l antenna. It i s q u i t e c m o n t o observe a low onaxis r a t i o while having excessively high ellipt i c i t y r a t i o s f o r off-axLs angles well within the
usableantenna beamwidth. Lvproper feed,'higher
order band radiation, or a combination of t h e two
w i l l coctribute t o this effect.
The second p o i n t r e l a t e s t o t h e symmetry of
t h e p a t t e r n s a b o u t t h e a x i s of the antenna; the
beam i s aligned with the antenna boresight
axis.
The importance of a well-designed balanced feed
in
mbimizing boresight cannot be
overemphasized.
Without a well balanced, non-radiating balun,
it
is vifiually impossible to achieve zero boresight
error.
Finally, a word of caution. The symmetrical
p a t t e r n s shown were obtained i n a simulated free
spaceenvironment.
The presence of even a l a r g e
ground plane may adversely affect these patterns.
For example, t h e same antenna when f l u s h mounted
i n a square ground plane approximately 10 wavelengths on a side exhibited non-symmetrical diff r a c t i o n l o b e s a t an azimuth angle of about 60
degrees. Increasing the size
of t h e ground plane
or using a c y l i n d r i c a l s t r u c t u r e w i l l , of course,
move t h e a s p m e t r y t o even greater angles.
The
important point, however, i s t o recognize that the
spiral antenna i s a broad beam radiator, and as
such i t s p a t t e r n can be adversely affected by t h e
presence of a ground plane.
-B.
By f a r t h e most important single parameter i n
obtaining satisfactory spiral antenna performance
i s the antenna feed or balun. The discussion
would, therefore, be incompletewithout somement i o n of t h e t y p e of b a l m s which can be used; and
i n p a r t i c u l a r , t h e b a l u n which was used i n t h e
88
References
The most comon methodof e x c i t i n g t h e Archimedian s p i r a l i s from a small section o f r i g i d coaxial transmission line extending into the cavity
i s fastened t o one
structure; the center conductor
arm of t h e s p i r a l and the outer conductor i s fastened t ot h eo t h e rp. r o p e r l yt a p e r i n gt h i s
ccaxial l i n e , s u y r i s i n g l y g o d impedance and a x i a l
r a t i o c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s can be obtained over an octavefrequencyrange.
The main d i f f i c u l t y , however,stems from t h e f a c t t h a t t h e f e e d i t s e l f
radiates, giving rise to considerable pattern dissymmetry and correspondingly large ellipticity rat i o within the beamwidth of t h e antenna. Bores i g h t e r r o r s i n t h e o r d e r of 15 degrees f o r some
p o l a r i z a t i o n s a r e n o t a t a l l uncmxon.
1. J. A. Kaiser,tlScanningArrays
Using F l a t Spiral Antenna,!! Naval Research Laboratories Rep o r t 5103, March 1958.
2.
J. A. Kaiser,!!Spiral
Antennas Applied t o
Scanning Arrays,l! Electronic Scanning Symposium, Air Force Cambridge ResearchCenter, A p r i l
1958.
3.
11.
S. R. Jones and E.
Turner,rlPolarization
Control with Oppositely Sensed Circularly
Polarized Antennas,!! NationalConference on
AeronauticalElectronics, Dayton, Ohio,1959.
5.
6.
W. L.
7.
V. H. Rumsey, InformalPresentationgiven
at
t h e URSI International Symposium on Electro-
M.
8.
9.
J. D. Dyson,"The
EquiangularSpiral Antenna,!!
University of I l l i n o i s Antenna Laboratory
TechnicalReport KO. 21, September 195'7.
89
ry
- 2
91
0
e TeminalsOpen-Circuited
-2
- X
X Terminals Loaded
8 -h
3e
-6
-12
.23
.25
.29
-27
.31
cavity nismeter
.23
.25
.29
.27
.31
cavity Diameter
.33
.35
.33
.35
(nh)
( ~ h )
0.0
0.3
0.2
0.1
Cavity Depth
(Sh)
92
.5
.?
.9
1.1
1.5
1.3
1.9
1.7
2 ;1
Fig. 7. Field distribution along spiral surface for two growth rates.
.25
.23
.29
.27
'23
.a5
.27
.33
.35
.31
.37
3 -0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
.29
Cndty Mameter ( O h )
-31.35
.33
or A d t h (Wh)
93
37
R
N
<
94
Dielectric
conductor
SECTIm' A-A