This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been
fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI 10.1109/LAWP.2019.2940703, IEEE
Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters
Low Profile Circularly Polarized Patch
Antenna with Wide 3-dB Beamwidth
Mrityunjoy Kumar Ray, Student Member, IEEE, Kaushik Mandal, Senior Member, IEEE, Nasimuddin, Senior Member, IEEE
Abstract—In this article, a low profile circularly polarized (CP)
narrow slots slotted-patch antenna for wide 3-dB axial ratio
beamwidth (ARBW) performance is presented. It consists of two
pairs of narrow slots along the diagonal lines of a square patch
with a single feed. These pair of narrow slots are conceived and
placed to serve as magnetic dipoles with quarter wavelength
separation, forcing the amplitude of the orthogonal electric field
components to be equal across a wide angle. The 3-dB ARBW of
the CP antenna is a strong function of the mutual magnetic field
which is feasible to alter with different parameters of the slot. The
location, dimensions, and gap between the slots are tuned to
achieve wide 3-dB ARBW. Measured results of the fabricated
prototype exhibit 3-dB ARBW of 226º with ARmin of 0.52 dB and
198º with ARmin of 1.61 dB in two principal planes at = 0º and
= 90º, respectively. The antenna offers impedance bandwidth
(IBW) of 85 MHz (2.448-2.533 GHz) and CP bandwidth (CPBW)
of 23 MHz (2.474-2.497 GHz). The minimum peak gain is 3.87
dBic in the broadside direction.
Index Terms—Axial ratio beamwidth, Circular polarization,
Microstrip antenna, Mutual magnetic field, Slot, slotted-patch.
I. INTRODUCTION
C IRCULARLY polarized (CP) antenna holds its attraction
in many wireless communication systems due to its
constant ability of receiving electromagnetic waves by
which an antenna diminishes polarization mismatches and
greatly manages multipath receiving signals. Therefore, CP
antenna is highly recommended in global positioning system,
global navigation satellite system, RF energy harvesting, and
radio frequency identification. Recently, a large group of
antenna researchers has been paying attention in designing low
profile CP patch antenna for its distinct feature of wide angular
signal coverage without any design complexity.
Varieties of techniques have been demonstrated for wide 3-
dB ARBW CP antennas. For example, the 3-D structures were
designed with stacked arrangement [1], cylindrical ground
plane [2], metallic shell [3], and quadrifilar helix [4]. The wide
Manuscript received June 07, 2019; revised August 16, 2019, accepted
September 08, 2019. This work is financially supported by University Grants
Commission (UGC), Govt. of India under National Fellowship for SC (NFSC)
Ph.D. scheme. (Award Letter No.: F1-17.1/2017-18/RGNF-2017-18-SC-WES-
32056 /(SA-III/Website)).
M. K. Ray* and K. Mandal# are with Department of Radio Physics and
Electronics, University of Calcutta, Kolkata- 700009, West Bengal, India.
(*e-mail: kray.mrityunjoy@gmail.com)(#e-mail: kaushikrpe@ieee.org)
Nasimuddin is with the Institute for Infocomm Research, A*STAR, 1
Fusionopolis Way, #21-01 Connexis (South Tower), Singapore 138632.
(email: nasimuddin@i2r.a-star.edu.sg)
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beamwidth of these bulky antennas is managed by diffractive
wave mechanism within the antenna structure.
The second approach was verified by tapered elliptical [5]
and inverted pyramidal [6] back cavity CP antenna. The
beamwidth of these bulky CP antennas is mainly influenced by
the reflected waves from the metallic wall of the cavity. In the
third methods, 3-dB ARBW was raised by additional substrate
dimension [7] of the CP antenna. Due to larger dielectric
material, antenna compromises its front to back ratio and
interferences within the system. In the fourth technique,
magneto-electric dipole [8] and folded dipole [9] have been
employed for wide beamwidth of the CP antenna. The fifth
approach obviously falls under the set of planar construction of
CP antennas. In [10], position and the size of slots are
manipulated for CP generation. Similarly, symmetric and
asymmetric slits [11]-[12] are etched for the generation of CP.
A blended structure of asymmetric slots and strip on antenna
[13] satisfies the wide beamwidth characteristic of CP
radiation. Recently, pin loaded short-circuited approach [14]
has been examined for boosting 3-dB ARBW of CP antenna.
The beamwidth of this CP antenna is mainly defined by
frequency tuning ratio which is controlled by pin radius and its
location on the antenna.
In this letter, a magnetic field coupling mechanism between
the two pairs of diagonal slots in patch antenna is exploited for
wide 3-dB ARBW. The dimension and perturbation gap
between the slots are manipulated to regulate the beamwidth of
CP radiation. All parametric studies are done by HFSS EM
simulator. The proposed antenna offers left-handed circular
polarization (LHCP) at broadside radiation. The characteristic
of propagation can be altered easily to right-handed circular
polarization (RHCP) by simply shifting the feed position by
90º. The proposed design is validated from a decent
agreement between the measured and simulated results.
II. ANTENNA DESIGN AND STRUCTURE
To design the proposed antenna, three structures as sketched
in Fig. 1 of the slotted-patch antenna are designed, compared,
and studied. Initially, the CP is generated by a narrow single-
slot (SS) loaded square patch antenna as shown in Fig. 1(a).
The limited beamwidth of the SS loaded CP antenna is
adequately enhanced by narrow dual-slot (DS) loaded CP
slotted-patch antenna, as shown in Fig. 1(b) and it offers 3-dB
ARBW of 202 in the plane of = 0. Finally, another pair of
diagonal narrow slots with a slight larger gap (d2) and narrow
width (WS2) is included to overcome the limited 3-dB ARBW
This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI 10.1109/LAWP.2019.2940703, IEEE
Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters

Fig. 2. The 3-dB ARBW and corresponding S11 for SS loaded CP

Fig. 1. Antenna configurations (a) SS loaded CP antenna (b) DS loaded
CP antenna (c) Proposed CP antenna [The optimum dimension of antenna, DS loaded, and proposed CP antenna.
antenna elements are listed as follows: W = 60 mm, WP = 35 mm (0.3𝛌0),
LS = LS1 = LS2 = 13 mm (0.107𝛌0), WS1 = 1 mm (0.0082𝛌0), WS2 = 0.5
mm (0.0041𝛌0), d1 = 10 mm (0.082𝛌0), d2 = 13 mm (0.107𝛌0)].

performance of the DS slotted-patch antenna as shown in Fig.

1(b). The proposed CP antenna is portrayed in Fig. 1(c) and it
exhibits wider enhanced 3-dB ARBW of 230 in plane of =
0 as shown in Fig. 2. All these three antennas are designed
using Rogers RT/duroid® 5880 substrate with h = 1.575 mm,
, and tan . The appropriate dimensions and
locations of the slots excite the two orthogonal modes with
nearly equal electric field components ( ) across a
wide angular range. The distance between the center locations
of two opposite diagonal slots is varied from 𝛌g/3.5 to 𝛌g/4
(where, 𝛌g is the guided wavelength at 2.48 GHz).
Fig. 3. Comparison of Rin and Xin between the antennas without slot,
SSloaded CP antenna, and proposed CP antenna.
III. PHYSICAL ANALYSIS OF WIDE 3- ARBW
In order to generate CP behavior of the antenna, two
degenerate modes ( and electric field components)
should be separated from each other maintaining equal
magnitude with quadrature phase difference. A slot within the
metallic boundary behaves as a magnetic dipole. Therefore, a
single-slot (SS) at the center of the patch and with 45
inclinations with the feeding axis excites two orthogonal
modes simultaneously by increasing the frequency of one Fig. 4. Variation of magnetic field strength on (a) SS loaded CP antenna
mode without distracting the other that originates the CP @ 2.49GHz (b) DS loaded CP antenna @ 2.49GHz (c) proposed CP
radiation. The 3-dB ARBW of CP radiation is a strong function antenna @ 2.48GHz.
of frequency tuning ratio and it is increased with the tuning with narrow angular coverage of 112 only. For DS loaded CP
ratio [14]. A pictorial comparison of input resistance (Rin) and antenna design, the magnetic field between the slots is
input reactance (Xin) plots for reference antenna (without slot), enhanced 3-dB ARBW. For the proposed CP antenna, the
SS loaded, and proposed antenna is depicted in Fig. 3. It is magnetic field is significantly strong at the center of the patch
observed that frequency tuning ratio of the proposed CP and provides a Gaussian distribution along the feed axis, as a
antenna is slightly more than the SS loaded antenna and input result, it exhibits widest 3-dB ARBW of 230 at = 0.
reactance has two zero crossing points within 2.451 GHz to Considering, the antenna is propagating in +z direction and
2.485 GHz range that ensures its wide 3-dB ARBW. two orthogonal far-field components ( ) and ( ) are
The magnetic field strength variation for the SS loaded, DS radiating. Now, as the distance between the center positions of
loaded, and proposed CP antenna is visualized in Fig. 4. Due to two opposite diagonal slots is varied from 𝛌g/3.5 to 𝛌g/4, the
weak magnetic field, the SS loaded CP antenna is restricted phase difference between ( ) and ( ) is getting about

1536-1225 (c) 2019 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.
This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI 10.1109/LAWP.2019.2940703, IEEE
Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters

Fig. 5. Electric field distribution at CP frequency 2.48 GHz for (a)

π 3π
θ = 0, (b) θ = , (c) θ = π , and (d) θ = .
2 2

Fig. 8. Changes in 3-dB ARBW at 2.48 GHz and corresponding

S11 for different d2 (Fixed parameters: LS1, WS1, LS2, WS2, and d1).

Fig. 9. 3-dB ARBW versus frequency plot over the CP band for
φ = 0º plane.

Fig. 6 displays the AR in different planes of radiation and

their corresponding phase difference as a witness to satisfy the
Fig. 6. The 3-dB ARBW in four primary planes and the
CP condition of the proposed antenna. The phase difference is
corresponding phase difference at 2.48 GHz.
almost 90 across a wide angular range for all four planes of
radiation.
IV. PARAMETRIC STUDIES
To understand the influences of slot length, slot width, and
the gap between them, a set of parametric study was carried out
keeping the dimensions and location of the other pair of slots
unchanged.
A. Variation of slot length (LS2):
As the slot length (LS2) is altered, the corresponding coupled
Fig. 7. Changes in 3-dB ARBW at 2.48 GHz and corresponding S11
for different (a) length (LS2) and (b) width (WS2). magnetic field is changing accordingly and the 3-dB ARBW
drops to 178º and 124º for LS2 = 12 mm and 14 mm,
90 which is also responsible for the equal magnitudes of respectively. So, LS2 is optimized to 13 mm for maximum 3-dB
( ) and ( ). The AR of a CP antenna can be ARBW of 230º, as shown in Fig. 7(a).
calculated using Eq. (1) and it satisfies the essential criterion
(AR = 1 dB) for CP across a wide angular range. B. Variation of slot width (WS2):
Due to weak magnetic field, the proposed antenna exhibits
( ) lower 3-dB ARBW of 184º and 156º for WS2 = 0.3 mm and 0.7
| ( ⁄ ( ))| (1) mm, respectively, with respect to its optimized value of 230º
for WS2 = 0.5 mm, as shown in Fig. 7(b).
The sense of CP propagation can be recognized easily from the
C. Variation of perturbation gap (d2):
electric field distribution, as shown in Fig. 5. It is visualized
that overall movement of the field is in the clockwise direction Symmetric arrangement of two pairs of slot exhibits a weak
hence, it exhibits LHCP radiation. The propagation magnetic field for CP radiation. Therefore, a strong magnetic
characteristic of the proposed CP antenna can be altered easily field can be generated by slightly increasing the perturbation
to RHCP by shifting the feed position by 90. gap (d2). The changes in beamwidth and S11 for various d2 as a
function of WP are summarized in Fig. 8.

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This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI 10.1109/LAWP.2019.2940703, IEEE
Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters

minimum peak gain of 3.87 dBic at the broadside direction.

The CP radiation of the proposed CP antenna offers a
maximum 3-dB ARBW of 226º with a minimum axial ratio
(ARmin) of 0.52 dB at = 0º and it is deteriorated slight to 198º
with ARmin of 1.61 dB at = 90º as shown in Fig. 11 and the
photo of the fabricated prototype is also shown in the inset of
this figure. The CP radiation patterns for primary planes of =
0º and = 90º are displayed in Fig. 12. At the boresight, the
difference between LHCP and RHCP, i.e., cross-polarization
discrimination (XPD) is 17.7 dB and 15.3 dB in the plane of
= 0º and = 90º respectively.
Characteristics offered by other associated design references
are compared with proposed CP antenna and summarized in
Table I. The proposed CP antenna exhibits profound superior
Fig. 10. Simulated and measured S11, AR, and peak gain of proposed performance in comparison to other related antennas published
CP antenna.
in the literature.
TABLE I
PERFORMANCE COMPARISON BETWEEN PROPOSED WORK AND OTHER
RELATED REFERENCES
XPD 3-dB
at ARBW
CPB = 0º (deg.)
Dimension IBW
Ref. W
(mm3) (%) (dB)
(%) = =
0º 90º

(0.573×0.573×0.296) 13 22 211 228

[2] 46.3
λo3 @ 1.227 GHz 3.02 23 202 213
(0.108×0.1712× Not
[3] 52.8 10.2 175 186
0.2) λo3 @ 2.4 GHz given
(1.2×1.44×0.9)λo3
[5] 10.8 11.6 17 134 172
@ 60 GHz
Fig. 11. Simulated and measured 3-dB ARBW at 2.48 GHz and (π×0.087×0.087× 2.28 0.61 12 182 165
2.487 GHz, respectively for plane of φ = 0º and φ = 90º. [7]
0.015)λo3 @ 1.45 GHz 3.05 0.69 7 184 175
(1.51×1.03×0.026)λo3 Not
[8] 4.88 30 130 130
@ 2.06 GHz given

(0.272×0.272×0.0138) Not
[10] 2 0.7 90 90
λo3 @ 0.905 GHz given
(0.21×0.21×0.016)λo3
[13] 1.7 0.63 21 188 188
@ 1.58 GHz
(0.416×0.416×
[14] 2.71 0.43 26 140 143
0.02)λo3 @ 2.5 GHz
Prop (0.289×0.289×
3.4 0.93 17.7 226 198
0.013)λo3 @ 2.48 GHz

Fig. 12. Simulated and measured CP radiation patterns of proposed

design at 2.48 GHz and 2.487 GHz, respectively for plane of φ = 0º
and φ = 90º.
Further, to confirm the wide beamwidth CP performance
across entire CP band, the 3-dB ARBW is wide enough
(>110°) across the frequency band 2.4752.486 GHz as
illustrated in Fig. 9.
V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The prototype of the proposed CP design was fabricated and
measured to authenticate the simulation results. Measured S11,
AR, and peak gain are compared with the simulated results, as
shown in Fig. 10. Measured results exhibit impedance
bandwidth (IBW) of 3.4% [85 MHz (2.448 GHz -2.533 GHz)],
CPBW of 0.93% [23 MHz (2.474 GHz -2.497 GHz)] and
VI. CONCLUSION
A low-profile narrow slot loaded CP antenna has been
presented and analyzed for wide 3-dB ARBW applications.
Two pairs of diagonal slots were symmetrically etched on a
square patch antenna. By varying the dimensions and the gap
between one pair of slots, the beamwidth of the antenna can be
tuned to a maximum possible value. The separation of two
orthogonal modes guarantees the CP radiation of antenna and
wide 3-dB ARBW has been certified by a coupled magnetic
field between slots. The far-reaching beamwidth in diagonal
planes of = 45º and = 135º are acquired as 208º and 188º,
respectively. Therefore, the proposed wide 3-dB ARBW low-
profile CP antenna with a single feed can be highly
recommended for many wireless communication systems.

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This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI 10.1109/LAWP.2019.2940703, IEEE
Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors would like to acknowledge Prof. Kumar Vaibhav
Srivastava of IIT Kanpur, India for providing their
measurement facilities.
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