Design of High Performance Circularly Polarized Radiating Element for Phased Array Antenna for Satcom on the Move

The paper describes the design, development, and characterization of a circularly polarized, wide beam radiating element for Electronically Steered Phased Array Antenna (ESPAA) for satellite communication (Satcom) on the move application at S-Band frequency. A corner truncated microstrip patch etched on Rogers TMM4 dielectric material placed on a rohacell filled the metallic cavity is proposed to achieve broader beam as well as wider bandwidth characteristics. The antenna has been simulated on finite element method-based ANSYS's high frequency structure simulator (HFSS) EM software using proper boundary conditions. Voltage standing wave ratio of 2.0:1 is achieved over the frequency band of 2.50-2.80 GHz. The measured axial ratio lies well below 3.2 over the frequency band (2.56-2.69 GHz). The measured 3-dB beam width of the antenna in E-plane and H-plane are 86.5 and 85.3 degrees respectively at 2.6 GHz.