Series-fed circularly polarized microstrip antennas with broad bandwidth

[ 1] A new series-fed circularly polarized antenna (SFCPA) in microstrip configuration, which consists of a traveling- wave-type crank-line antenna (CLA) and a resonant-type square-ring slot antenna (SRSA), is developed. Unlike the conventional crank-line (CL) antenna array with an open end or a resistive load, the proposed SFCPA uses the SRSA at the termination of the CLA and thus exhibits not only a broad circularly polarized (CP) bandwidth but also a large antenna gain. The characteristics of the SFCPA, including the leaky-wave radiation and the circular polarization, are examined in terms of the dispersion diagram and the current distribution. The SFCPA with the two-cell CLA and the terminated SRSA is fabricated and measured to demonstrate the 10- dB return loss and 3-dB axial ratio (AR) bandwidths of 34.3% and 30.5%, respectively. The frequency- scanning radiation patterns with a 5 - 7 dBi antenna gain are also presented in the operating band.