Polarization-Reconfigurable Yagi-Configured Electrically Small Antenna

Abstract

An electrically small, high-directivity, Yagi-configured, near-field resonant parasitic (NFRP) antenna with four reconfigurable polarization states is presented. The antenna is composed of two NFRP elements and a customized, electrically controlled, reconfigurable driven element. The elements are stacked vertically in a Yagi configuration. The upper NFRP element acts as the director, and the lower one acts as the reflector. Both elements have a cross-shaped Egyptian axe dipole form. By integrating four p-i-n (PIN) diodes into its coax-fed asymmetric driven element, four polarization states, i.e., two orthogonal linear polarization (LP) and two circular polarization (LHCP and RHCP), are enabled which are controlled with the ON/OFF-states of the PIN diodes. The measured and simulated results of this electrically small (ka = 0.7) sized polarization-reconfigurable system are in good agreement. This simple, Yagi-configured antenna exhibits stable radiation performance in all four of its polarization states. The measured results demonstrate that, in its x (y)-LP state, the peak realized gain, front-to-back ratio, and radiation efficiency values are, respectively, ~3.08 (3.2) dBi, ~11.0 (11.05) dB, and ~77% (73%), and that, in its LHCP (RHCP) state, they are, respectively, ~3.0 (3.1) dBi, ~12.1 (11.18) dB, and ~72% (70%).