Low-Profile Equiangular Spiral Antenna Backed by an EBG Reflector

Abstract

The bi-directional beam from an equiangular spiral antenna (EAS) is changed to a unidirectional beam using an electromagnetic band gap (EBG) reflector. The antenna height, measured from the upper surface of the EBG reflector to the spiral arms, is chosen to be extremely small to realize a low-profile antenna: 0.07 wavelength at the lowest analysis frequency of 3 GHz. The analysis shows that the EAS backed by the EBG reflector does not reproduce the inherent wideband axial ratio characteristic observed when the EAS is isolated in free space. The deterioration in the axial ratio is examined by decomposing the total radiation field into two field components: one component from the equiangular spiral and the other from the EBG reflector. The examination reveals that the amplitudes and phases of these two field components do not satisfy the constructive relationship necessary for circularly polarized radiation. Based on this finding, next, the EBG reflector is modified by gradually removing the patch elements from the center region of the reflector, thereby satisfying the required constructive relationship between the two field components. This equiangular spiral with a modified EBG reflector shows wideband characteristics with respect to the axial ratio, input impedance and gain within the design frequency band (4-9 GHz). Note that, for comparison, the antenna characteristics for an EAS isolated in free space and an EAS backed by a perfect electric conductor are also presented.