Performance enhancement of shorted polygonal archimedean spiral antenna using hybrid reflector

Abstract

In this paper, performance enhancement in a shorted polygonal archimedean spiral antenna has been proposed by backing it with a hybrid reflector. In the proposed work, two arms of the polygonal spiral antenna are shorted at an outer octagonal conductive ring aiding in size reduction of the polygonal spiral. The shorted polygonal spiral antenna with the advantages of low profile and the good axial ratio at lowest frequencies of operation is backed by a hybrid reflector that utilizes combination ferrite layer which tapers towards the center to a PEC layer. The hybrid reflector helps to improve the gain of the antenna significantly at low frequencies without compromising the gain of the antenna at high frequencies. The antenna operates from 0.6 GHz to 6.5 GHz with a minimum boresight gain of 0.2 dBic at 0.6 GHz and an average gain of 6 dBic from 2.2 GHz. The antenna also demonstrates a good axial ratio of ≤3 dB over the VSWR bandwidth in a low-profile dimension of 0.13 λ0 × 0.13 λ0 × 0.04 λ0. The proposed work thus presents a novel idea to develop a compact high-performance spiral by shorting the arms of a polygonal spiral with a conductive ring and backing the same by a hybrid reflector and cavity.