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A Mode-Superposed Microstrip Patch Antenna and Its
Yagi Array With High Front-to-Back Ratio
E. Guo, Juhua Liu , and Yunliang Long
Abstract— A new microstrip patch antenna with a linear superposition directors provided a high F/B ratio of 15 dB in a narrow radiation
of its even and odd modes is proposed for a high front-to-back (F/B) bandwidth of 3.7%, although it had an impedance bandwidth of 8.3%.
ratio. With the mode superposition, the patch antenna has its main beam
In [9], a vertically polarized top-hat monopole Yagi array antenna was
in the forward quadrant space and an inherent high F/B ratio. The
antenna exhibits a vertical polarization in the ground plane. With a proposed, which provided a wide impedance bandwidth of 20.5%
low profile, the patch antenna generates a wide impedance bandwidth with a low profile of 0.036λ0 , and an F/B ratio of about 10 dB.
though a relatively narrow radiation bandwidth (F/B > 15 dB). In order A quasi-Yagi array of printed dipole antennas [10] can be easily
to have a wider radiation bandwidth with a high F/B ratio, a vertically designed to have a high F/B ratio and a wide bandwidth, but it can
polarized Yagi array antenna is constructed based on the patch antenna,
with an electromagnetic band gap (EBG) structure as a reflector and only provide a horizontal polarization and cannot be placed directly
a quarter-wavelength patch antenna as a director. (The employment of on or closely to a ground plane.
the EBG structure is helpful for the enhancement of the F/B ratio, but Recently, several designs of patch antennas [11]–[15] with dual
it increases the array size on the other hand.) Measured results show mode were proposed for bandwidth enhancement or for a required
that the constructed Yagi array antenna with a low profile of 0.025λ λ0
achieves an impedance bandwidth of 11.5% (4.83–5.42 GHz) for | S11 | <
radiation pattern. In [11]–[13], patch antennas with dual mode were
−10 dB. Moreover, it has a wide radiation bandwidth of 10.1% (4.90– proposed to enhance their bandwidths. In [14], a patch antenna using
5.42 GHz), in which the F/B ratio is higher than 15 dB and the gain is even and odd modes was designed to achieve null scanning. In [15],
from 8.5 to 9.5 dBi. a slotted circular patch antenna with a superposition of the TM12
Index Terms— Electromagnetic band gap (EBG), endfire, microstrip mode and a slot mode was proposed for sidelobe reduction.
patch antenna, mode superposition, Yagi array antenna. Shorting vias have been introduced to microstrip patch antennas,
to improve their impedance matching [11]–[13] or radiation proper-
I. I NTRODUCTION
ties [16]–[18]. In [16], a rectangular patch antenna with high gain was
Microstrip antennas are well known with the advantages of low
proposed using shorting vias. In [17] and [18], circularly polarized
profile, low cost, and easy fabrication. A basic rectangular microstrip
square patch antennas with high gain and wide 3 dB axial ratio
patch antenna usually works in the TM10 (odd) mode and generates
beamwidth were realized using shorting vias.
a nearly symmetric beam radiating at broadside [1], so it is not
In [19] and [20], the fundamental (even) traveling-wave mode and
suitable for a circumstance that needs a beam in the forward quadrant
the first higher order (odd) traveling-wave mode in a microstrip line
space. Besides, a usual narrow bandwidth of about 2%–3% is also
with a set of periodic shorting vias at the center were investigated.
a disadvantage for a rectangular microstrip antenna, which limits its
In [19], the stopband in the even mode was exploited, to suppress
application.
the unwanted even mode and to enhance the excitation efficiency of
The Yagi–Uda array antenna [2] can provide a high gain with
the leaky odd mode. In [20], the fundamental even mode was further
only one driven element, and generates a beam in the forward
investigated with the method of auxiliary sources. It was found that
direction. Recently, Yagi array antennas based on microstrip patch
the fundamental even mode became a leaky mode from a bound
antennas are attractive [3]–[7], due to the advantages of low profile
mode, when the microstrip line was loaded with shorting vias [20].
and easy fabrication. These antennas can be easily designed for
In this communication, a mode-superposed microstrip patch
a beam in the forward quadrant space (or in the forward endfire
antenna with an inherent high F/B ratio is proposed. With shorting
direction with an infinite ground plane). The antennas can be easily
vias loading, this patch antenna can simultaneously excite an even
designed for a vertical polarization (in the ground plane), which
resonant mode and an odd resonant mode. At a certain frequency,
are favorite in wireless communication [5]. However, the Yagi–Uda
with a proper superposition of the two modes, a main beam with a
arrays of microstrip patch antennas usually have front-to-back (F/B)
very high F/B ratio (>15 dB) can be obtained in the forward quadrant
ratios of only about 8–10 dB [3]–[7]. In the design of a Yagi array
space. Measured results show that the patch antenna with a low profile
antenna, the F/B ratio is an important characteristic, since an antenna
of only 0.025λ0 has a wide impedance bandwidth (|S11 | < −10 dB)
with a high F/B ratio can not only suppress the interference in the
of 9.7%, and a radiation bandwidth of 2.6% in which the F/B ratio is
backward direction but can also decrease the loss of radiated power
higher than 15 dB and the gain is up to 8.1 dBi. The patch antenna
in the unwanted direction. In [8], a Yagi array antenna with four
is linearly polarized and exhibits a vertical polarization in the ground
Manuscript received May 6, 2017; revised September 28, 2017; accepted plane.
October 1, 2017. Date of publication October 5, 2017; date of current In order to have a wider (radiation) bandwidth with a high F/B ratio
version November 30, 2017. This work was supported in part by the Natural and a stable gain, a vertically polarized Yagi array antenna based on
Science Foundation of China under Grant 61401522, Grant 61771497, Grant
41376041, Grant 61172026, and in part by the NSF of Guangdong Province
the presented patch antenna is developed. In the developed Yagi array
under Grant 2015A030312010. (Corresponding author: Juhua Liu.) antenna, a mushroom-like electromagnetic band gap (EBG) structure
The authors are with the Department of Electronics and Communication and a quarter-wavelength patch antenna are employed as a reflector
Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China (e-mail: and a director, respectively. The EBG structure here is placed at the
liujh33@mail.sysu.edu.cn). coplanar backside of the driven element and serves as a reflector for
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this communication are
available online at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org. high F/B ratio, whereas the EBG structure in [21] is placed below
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TAP.2017.2759962 the radiators and serves as a high-impedance plane (complementary
0018-926X © 2017 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 65, NO. 12, DECEMBER 2017 7329
TABLE I
PARAMETERS FOR THE P ROPOSED PATCH A NTENNA AND YAGI A RRAY
Fig. 1. Top view and cross section of the proposed Yagi array antenna.
with
L eff W W
Ms1 = A ê y , x = − , − ≤y≤ (2)
2 2 2
and
L eff W W
Ms2 = A ê y , x = , − ≤y≤ (3)
2 2 2
where A represents the complex amplitude of the magnetic currents
for the odd mode. In (2) and (3), L eff can be calculated by
L eff = L + 2L (4)
where L can be calculated by [22]
delta L =.78967 mm (εr + 0.3) W /h + 0.264
using epsilon L = 0.412 × h . (5)
effective =2.098273 (εr − 0.258) W /h + 0.8
Fig. 6. Simulated and theoretical results for the radiation pattern at 5.14 GHz
and measured one at 5.3 GHz in the x z plane.
B. Experiment
The prototype of the proposed Yagi array antenna is fabricated, as
shown in Fig. 8. The geometry is shown in Fig. 1 and the parameters
are given in the third column in Table I.
Fig. 9 shows the measured and simulated results of the reflection
coefficient for the Yagi array. A small frequency shift of 0.16 GHz
is also observed between the simulated and the measured results,
due to a smaller permittivity of the substrate used in the fabrication.
The measured −10 dB reflection coefficient bandwidth is 0.59 GHz,
which is from 4.83 to 5.42 GHz, 11.5% in fraction. The bandwidth of
the Yagi array is slightly wider than that (9.7%) of the single driven
element [Fig. 4(a)].
Fig. 10 shows the measured and simulated results for the F/B ratio
of the Yagi array. Measured result shows that the F/B ratio of the Yagi
array is higher than 15 dB in the band from 4.90 to 5.42 GHz, with
a radiation bandwidth of 0.52 GHz, 10.1% in fraction. The measured
Fig. 10. Measured and simulated F/B ratios for the Yagi array.
result has a similar variation trend with the simulated one, although
there are some discrepancies due to the measurement errors. Com-
pared with the single driven element [Fig. 4(b)], the radiation band-
width increases notably from 0.14 GHz (2.6%) to 0.52 GHz (10.1%).
Fig. 11 shows the measured and simulated results for the gain of
the Yagi array. The measured result for the gain of the Yagi array
is about 1–2 dB lower than the simulated one, probably due to the
measurement errors and the additional loss introduced by the SMA
connector. In the radiation bandwidth from 4.90 to 5.42 GHz, the Yagi
array has a measured gain from 8.5 to 9.5 dBi, with a variation within
1 dB. Compared with the single driven element [Fig. 4(b)], the gain
of the Yagi array increases by about 1 dB.
Fig. 12 shows the measured radiation patterns of the Yagi array at
4.9, 5.2, and 5.4 GHz. It is seen that the main beams of the Yagi array
are almost stable in the elevation range between 30° and 40°, and
the F/B ratios are all higher than 15 dB in the radiation bandwidth.
The co-polarization of the Yagi array is E θ in the principle vertical
Fig. 11. Measured and simulated gains for the Yagi array. plane (x z plane). In the azimuth (ground) plane, the Yagi array
exhibits a vertical polarization. The cross-polarization level of the
Yagi array is mostly lower than −20 dB.
V. C OMPARISON
Table II shows the comparisons of our proposed antennas with
several published antennas. Compared with the published anten-
nas [4]–[7], [26], [27] whose F/B ratios are about 10 dB, our
presented Yagi array has an F/B ratio over 15 dB. Though the
published antenna [8] has an F/B ratio over 15 dB, its radiation
bandwidth with such an F/B ratio is only 3.7%. It is seen that the
radiation bandwidth (F/B > 15 dB) of 10.1% of our Yagi array
is much wider than that in [8]. Besides, the presented Yagi array
antenna has a rather low profile (0.025λ0 ) and exhibits a medium
wide impedance bandwidth (11.5%) in the comparison. On the other
Fig. 12. Radiation patterns for the Yagi array at 4.9, 5.2, and 5.4 GHz.
(a) x z plane. (b) xy plane. The solid lines represent the co-polarization and hand, due to the adoption of the EBG structure, the size of our
the dashed ones represent the cross-polarization. Yagi array is relatively larger. For a high F/B ratio and a small size,
our mode-superposed patch antenna is an alternative though with a
relatively narrow radiation bandwidth.
patch with a shorting via loading at the center. The length of each
patch is L e , and the gaps in the x- and y-directions are gx and g y , VI. C ONCLUSION
respectively, as shown in Fig. 1. A 6 × 4 array of basic elements A new microstrip patch antenna with a linear superposition of
is constructed as an EBG reflector. The parameters for the EBG are even and odd modes is proposed at first, which inherently owns a
given in Table I. The dispersion curves of the mushroom-like EBG high F/B ratio (>15 dB). The patch antenna produces a beam in
are obtained using HFSS [24], [25]. Fig. 7 shows the 2-D dispersion the forward quadrant space, with a high F/B ratio and a high gain.
diagram for the EBG. The 2-D dispersion diagram shows that a band Measured results show that the patch antenna with a low profile of
gap [24] of the EBG occurs from 4.74 to 7.65 GHz and it covers the 0.025λ0 has a wide impedance bandwidth of 9.7%, and a radiation
operating band of the driven element. In the band gap, it is difficult bandwidth (F/B > 15 dB) of 2.6%. In the radiation bandwidth,
for the electromagnetic wave to propagate along the EBG. Therefore, the F/B ratio is higher than 15 dB and the gain is from 7.5 to
the mushroom-like EBG can serve as a reflector in this band gap, to 8.1 dBi. The patch antenna is linearly polarized and exhibits a
reduce the back lobes for the Yagi array. vertical polarization in the ground plane.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 65, NO. 12, DECEMBER 2017 7333
TABLE II
C OMPARISONS OF S EVERAL P LANAR YAGI A RRAY A NTENNAS
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